Naughty Dog has issued a recent statement condemning the harassment and threats that members of the developer team and cast have received.

They shared their opinions on their official Twitter page:

“Although we welcome critical discussion, we condemn any form of harassment or threats directed towards our team and cast,”– it reads.

“Their safety is our top priority, but we must all work together to root out this type of behavior and maintain a constructive and compassionate discourse.”

All this came after the studio staff was overwhelmed by threatening messages and harassment. Although this type of activity was initially limited to review-bombing on Metacritic, these people have since found members of the crew, such as actors, online as well.

Laura Bailey, a well-known actress who plays Abby in The Last of Us Part 2, for example, has personally received offensive and threatening messages from anonymous people on the Internet about her role.

“Man. I try to only post positive stuff on here,” she wrote, posting some of the messages she received -. “But sometimes this just gets a little overwhelming. I blacked out some of the words cuz, ya know, spoilers.”

“Side note. Thank you to all the people sending me positive messages to balance it out. It means more than I can say.”

You can love or hate the game and share your thoughts about it. Unfortunately too many of the messages I’ve been getting are vile, hateful, & violent. Here are just a handful of them (feel it’s important to expose.) Trigger Warning: transphobic, homophobic, anti-Semitic, etc. pic.twitter.com/uR9vpGgYQa

— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) July 5, 2020

Naughty Dog as a whole has also been under constant attack since details of the game’s plot were leaked in April. This misfortune started long before the game came out and it still seems like it doesn’t want to end. Neil Druckmann, vice president of Naughty Dog, said the day the story leaked was the worst of his life, but deliberate harassment of the studio and its employees must end here and now. He, too, has been posting the vile and hateful messages addressed to him personally since the game hit store shelves.

“You can love or hate the game and share your thoughts about it,” he wrote. “Unfortunately too many of the messages I’ve been getting are vile, hateful, & violent.”

The harassment continues, but it is clear from the statement that the company will not tolerate direct threats to its employees.

Source: VG247

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