Another day, another Cyberpunk 2077 issue.
This time around it's regarding a mod that allows you to have sex with Johnny Silverhand, the character portrayed by Keanu Reaves.
It turns out that this is bad, actually.
In fact, CD Projekt Red actually responded to it.
"We kindly ask you to refrain from using them in any situation that might be found offensive if you don't have their explicit permission"
As reported by Eurogamer, CD Projekt Red has reacted to this mod by saying this:
"Our most important rule regarding user-generated content, game mods in particular, is that it can't be harmful towards others. In the case of model swaps, especially those that involve explicit situations, it can be perceived as such by the people who lent us their appearance for the purpose of creating characters in Cyberpunk 2077."
"Therefore, when making fan content, creators have to make sure they've got permission from all the concerned parties (which might be people other than CD Projekt Red). For the characters we've invented for the game, we broadly permit you to tweak the game at will and just have fun. When it comes to models of real people whom we've asked to participate in the game, we kindly ask you to refrain from using them in any situation that might be found offensive if you don't have their explicit permission."
Don't bombard Keanu Reaves with requests on this. Please.
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Is this hypocrisy?
Right, first of all, doing this kind of stuff is akin to deepfake porn, which is creepy as all hell and should be made completely illegal.
With that out of the way, let's briefly dive into the fact that CD Projekt Red had no issue sexualising trans people in order to sell their game.
Nor did they then have any issues getting a cis woman to cosplay as a trans character to market the game. You can read all about the numerous issues with this stuff in this excellent piece on Polygon.
Our main point though, is that CD Projekt Red need to sort this stuff out and do better. You can't just take issues with these things when it suits you or when you're at risk of being sued.
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