JonTron hasn’t been having a good time of it lately. After losing some subscribers following an alarming series of comments on race and tribalization in a debate with Destiny, he’s also been dropped from the upcoming Yooka-Laylee.
Citing that they “do not endorse or support JonTron’s personal viewpoints”, JonTron’s, real name Jon Jafari, voice work has been stripped from the game by developer Playtonic. It was added after production had been completed, but has now been removed.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Playtonic made the following statement:
“We recently became aware of comments made by voice artist JonTron after development on Yooka-Laylee had been completed.
“JonTron is a talented video presenter who we were initially, two years ago, happy to include as a voice contributor in our game. However, in light of his recent personal viewpoints we have made the decision to remove JonTron’s inclusion in the game via a forthcoming content update.
“We would like to make absolutely clear that we do not endorse or support JonTron’s personal viewpoints and that, as an external fan contributor, he does not represent Playtonic in any capacity,” they added. “Playtonic is a studio that celebrates diversity in all forms and strives to make games that everyone can enjoy. As such, we deeply regret any implied association that could make players feel anything but 100% comfortable in our game worlds, or distract from the incredible goodwill and love shown by our fans and Kickstarter backers.”
Strong move and one that was probably right to make, but it’s going to be divisive, that’s for sure. Yooka-Laylee comes out on April 11th, so there’s plenty of time for petitions to get him reinstated before then.
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