Stellar Blade accidentally includes a racist slur, will be removed in the launch patch

Stellar Blade accidentally includes a racist insult. Sony explains that everything will be corrected via a patch.

Precisely, as you can see in the image below, in Stellar Blade there is one very unpleasant combination of graphic elements. In fact, on one wall you can see the writing “Hard” and on the right there is a neon sign with a large “R”.

In case you don't know, “hard r” is a way of referring to a racial slur against people of color (the “n-word” for those who know what we're talking about). Obviously those who don't live in America or aren't used to American slang don't realize the issue.

It should also be noted that the “hard” graffiti is present in several parts of the game, while the R, with the word “shop” underneath refers to the shop of Roxanne, a character. In this case there simply was one unfortunate combination of the two terms. For the American public this is something rather annoying to see, in any case.

When will the fix arrive?

Sony explains that the patches for this involuntary racial insult she will be introduced at the launch of Stellar Blade.

“The placement of two graphics in Stellar Blade resulted in an unintentional offensive phrase,” PlayStation's statement read. “Shift Up did not intend to create an offensive work of art and will replace graffiti in the launch patch“.

Considering that the development team is Koreanlet's assume that not only was there no intent to put a racial slur on a wall, but that none of the teams have any idea what “hard r” means.

Finally, we leave you with the technical analysis of Stellar Blade carried out by Digital Foundry.