After claims of racism dogged Resident Evil 5, Capcom says it is taking steps to ensure that nothing similar ever happens again.
Capcom is adding an extra step to its game creation process after the criticism levelled at Resident Evil 5: Run things past the PR department to make sure it’s not going to offend anyone. Capcom’s senior PR manager Melody Pfeiffer believes that getting her department involved in the creation process sooner will prevent similar problems in the future.
Pfeiffer said that the RE5 controversy had made the company acutely aware of how important it was to have someone separate from the design team offering their point of view on a game. She added that a lot of content was going to be made in the West from now on, so it would make a lot more sense to, and be more appropriate for, a western audience. In the case of assets still being made in Japan, she said that her department was working closely with the Japanese teams, and that they were more open to suggestions than ever before.
Whether you agreed or disagreed with the accusations of racism, it’s not hard to see why Capcom would be keen to avoid a repeat performance. You could make the argument that the PR department’s influence would stifle creativity, but it’s important to remember that it’s still the PR department for a videogame company, so it’s probably fairly used to zombies and violence by now.
Source: Gamasutra
