#The last of us dlc conversations series

This line of reasoning is known as a logical fallacy because, essentially, it’s never accurate. First Ellie kisses a girl and now every new character in the game is genderless. You give an inch, the argument goes, and they take a mile. It’s been trotted out to defend all manner of hateful bullshit for decades, even centuries, like segregation and marriage bans.

You might recognize this line of argument as an iteration of the “ slippery slope” logical fallacy, which assumes a small first step will trigger a chain of events resulting in a catastrophic overall outcome.

#The last of us dlc conversations series

Every single new character introduced in the sequel does not have definitive feminine or masculine qualities.įor Sausage Roll, this imagined trans takeover of the Naughty Dog series is the latest, most egregious example of an ongoing move by writer and director Neil Druckmann to push a “clear political agenda” through “extremely divisive and partisan plot devices.” The Aussie blog argues that creative lead Amy Hennig’s departure from the studio in 2014 was a watershed moment that paved the way for Ellie kissing a girl in the Left Behind DLC expansion for the original Last of Us, as well as the implied romantic relationship between Nadine and Chloe in the Uncharted 4 spinoff, The Lost Legacy. The characters in The Last of Us Part II are designed in such a way to not make trans people feel uncomfortable.

Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive EntertainmentĪs Last of Us Part II leaks spread throughout social media that week in late April, a narrow but distinct thread of commentary about Abby’s appearance emerged: Broad shoulders and muscular arms sparked speculation that the character is trans despite a total lack of confirmation in the leaked game footage.Ĭiting an anonymous source with unstated ties to Naughty Dog, Australian outlet Sausage Roll reported that “people who question the progressive narrative that Naughty Dog are injecting into their games are at high risk of losing their jobs.” After lamenting the “diversity” of the game’s new additions to the cast, the article drops an alleged bombshell from its anonymous source: That’s not all. Uniting in mutual disgust.”Įllie during a rare moment of calm in The Last of Us Part II. Abby has a serious grudge against returning heroes Ellie and Joel, and gets her revenge in brutal fashion.Ī post about the leaks from the right-leaning website One Angry Gamer bemoans Naughty Dog’s “woke anti-Christian agenda” while savoring the dismay of fans of Ellie, a character described as “the much-beloved lesbian icon for the SJWs who love to sing this game’s praise on Twitter, but had no intention of buying the game.” The post concludes with the baseless statement that “naturally, everyone is losing their minds. An April hack of the game’s developer, Naughty Dog, revealed a number of major plot points, including the role of Abby, an antagonist for the first half of the game who becomes its protagonist in the second. The latest target of ire among this perennially aggrieved subset of gamers is The Last of Us Part II.

Lady gamer? Person of color? Not straight? Nonconforming? They will persistently interpret your opinions about games and your desire to enjoy them as “forcing an agenda.” There’s a small but loud minority of people out there who want to tell you that video games belong to them and not you.

Who are games for, anyway? What kinds of people deserve to be depicted in them?