Lara Croft continues to be too “problematic” for the current year video game industry. After receiving a trigger warning for portrayals of natives in the nearly 30-year-old franchise, gamers were assured that no further alterations would be made to the remaster.
However, eagle-eyed players keep spotting more and more censorship with each update. First, Pierre Du Pont’s bomber jacket was altered. Now Lara’s pinups have apparently been scrubbed from the game.
X user DOA Momiji seemed to be the first to spot the censorship of the pinups, which once appeared above Lara’s locker. This was later retweeted by former Blizzard exec Grummz.
The removal of the pinups apparently came during the latest update on Steam.
This is hardly the first time that the Tomb Raider series has been nerfed in recent years. In fact, Lara Croft’s traditionally sexy figure and the very premise of the series (raiding tombs) are both under fire.
Recently, a tabletop RPG based on Tomb Raider has been announced, and the developer Evil Hat Productions (outspoken publisher of Thirty Sword Lesbians) promised to work with Crystal Dynamics to make the series less offensive for “modern audiences.” Because something, something colonialism.
“Later games released in the franchise have started the work of addressing this by having Lara Croft acknowledge her past mistakes and try to understand and show respect for the cultures and communities she comes into contact with. She has also worked to reform raider culture and raise the awareness of her peers.”
“Lara no longer decorates her mantle with mythic artifacts – as a raider she prioritizes seeking out the truth. Much of this game is inspired by her humanity, struggle with heroism, and her tenacity. We believe that all three aspects are an important component in creating a game that celebrates history and culture while acknowledging the respect and work required to live in a world wounded by colonialism.”
So going forward, we’re talking about Tomb Raider without raiding tombs. And Lara Croft without the sexy coolness that made her an icon in the 1990s.
Why bother making new games in the series at all? Why both rereleasing the older games if they’re going to get retconned for modern sensibilities constantly?
It’s such a bizarre choice that even Brianna Wu has publicly said the developers are being stupid.
Is Tomb Raider yet another example of a once-great franchise that can be thrown on the pile of dead IP sacrificed to appease perpetually outraged Current Year tastemakers?
Probably.
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