In just over a month, Persona 5 will return to the PlayStation 4 to take players' hearts once more, in the updated re-release of Persona 5 Royal. The game, which already launched in Japan last October, is slated for a March 31st release in the west, where it has been confirmed that it will have two scenes edited from its original version. The changes revolve around two minor cutscenes in the game, where two "stereotypical gay men" approach the player characters as a gag, In the game's original western launch, these scenes were met with mixed reception, with certain players finding the content offensive, which has lead to Atlus USA believing that the release of Royal is the perfect time to "update it for the current generation".

In an interview exclusive to IGN, Atlus USA's Communications Manager said that these two scenes would be changed, as to not cast the men in a "negative light".

We actually were able to go through some of the lines that players may not have received as well, look at that feedback, and then [update it] for the current generation.

In a separate exclusive interview with Gamespot, localization manager Yu Namba commented the following, regarding the content in question.

As a localization manager, I really cannot do too much about what has already made it into the game. Our team members felt a little bit of awkwardness about when working on it. And with Royal, we were determined to see if we could do something about it at least localization-wise. On our end, it took a lot of effort consulting not just the production department, but talking with our marketing, and how they would feel about it if we changed how things were in Persona 5 to this new way--what would the public reception be, what the company would think, whether it would be okay if we do make the change.

If you're curious to see the original Persona 5's version of those scenes, they both have been linked below.

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[UltraDolphinRevolution]

I wasn´t aware the movie came out in 2016. The link:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-...l-s-dr-strange-over-changed-character-n677706

 

[Seliph]

I wasn´t aware the movie came out in 2016. The link:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-...l-s-dr-strange-over-changed-character-n677706

Oh, I've seen that. Tibetans were angry because a white woman was used to represent an asian role. Marvel didn't change anything because of this, Tilda Swinton still got to play her role unchanged.

 

[UltraDolphinRevolution]

Oh, I've seen that. Tibetans were angry because a white woman was used to represent an asian role. Marvel didn't change anything because of this, Tilda Swinton still got to play her role unchanged.

Tilda Swinton WAS the change. That was the whole point.

 

[Hells Malice]

Snowflakes strike again

I cast Censorship Blizzard!

 

[Seliph]

Tilda Swinton WAS the change. That was the whole point.

Not sure what you mean by this. Tilda Swinton portraying the Ancient One is a change from the Ancient One being an Asian man in the comics, but she was the original actor cast for the role of Ancient One, and the fact that she was the original person cast for the role of Ancient One is why people were offended, especially because she white-washes the original Asian character. The way you phrased your original post made it sound as if Marvel was afraid of backlash so they cast Tilda Swinton instead of an Asian man? That doesn't really make sense, unless I'm misreading what you're saying.

 

[UltraDolphinRevolution]

Not sure what you mean by this.

I don´t know about this character but apparently he has been depicted as a Tibetan-type monk in the comics. The writer (allegedly) said they had to change it due to the fear of a backlash by the Chinese audience who might have interpreted it as a political statement (esp. those who do not know the comics). So the original change was turning the character into a white woman.

If you are for these kinds of things, you have to be consistent and also apply it to this case. The only difference is pre-release and post-release complaints.