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Uncharted 4 dev had to dismiss a focus tester after "sexist" comments

Some people really can't stand seeing a woman in a position of power, even in fiction.

uncharted_4_nadine_ross

Uncharted 4 dev had to dismiss a focus tester after "sexist" comments

A focus tester who was invited to Uncharted 4 developer Naughty Dog to offer feedback during development, is said to have been asked to leave after making sexist comments about a particular scene in the game.

Spoilers for two major scenes in Uncharted 4 to follow

Speaking to Rolling Stone's new video game site Glixel, co-director Neil Druckmann explained how his work has been influenced Anita Sarkeesian's Feminist Frequency videos.

"When I'm introducing and describing a new character to our lead character concept artist, constantly she will ask, 'What if it was a girl?' And I'm like, Oh, I didn't think about that," he told the site.

"Let me think, does that affect or change anything? No? Cool, that's different. Yeah, let's do it," he added, revealing that the epilogue initially featured Nate's son, instead of his daughter as in the final game.

Druckmann then told the story of a focus tester whom the studio had to ask to leave, after he was upset Nadine was beating up Nate in that now-famous auction scene. The tester also apparently wasn't a fan of Nate and Elena having a daughter at the end, instead of a son.

"In his core, it just affected him. He was cursing, 'Not you, too, Naughty Dog! Goddammit. I guess I'm done with Uncharted, if you guys ever make another one, with his daughter. This fucking bullshit," recalls Druckmann.

"And I was like, wow, why does that matter?"

Uncharted 4 was praised in the the majority of its reviews. The game's strong characters were undoubtedly a big part of these positive appraisals.

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Sherif Saed

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Sherif is VG247’s go-to shooter and Souls-likes person. Whether it’s news, reviews, or op-eds – Sherif is always eager to tell you about video games. Sherif is based in Egypt, a fact he’s working diligently to change, if only to have more opportunities to hike.

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