'World Of Warcraft' In-Game Art Changed To Remove Sexual Imagery
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Featured Image Credit: Activision Blizzard
Two paintings in World of Warcraft have now been changed to tone down the sexualisation in the game, in a move that's possibly as a response to the lawsuit that Activision is grappling with at the moment.
In its own statement about the fallout of the lawsuit, the team behind one of the most popular MMORPGs in the world said that they had felt "sadness, pain, and anger, but also hope and resolve". Marking a new chapter in the game, the developer relayed that players would see changes to Shadowlands and World of Warcraft Classic in the interest of "rebuilding trust" between it and its community.
Some of the changes in other Blizzard games, like Overwatch, have been a visible step away from the shocking stories described in the lawsuit. Others haven't been so helpful such as the renaming of achievements to remove the words "sack" and "ho". And now, this latest change to World of Warcraft seeks to avoid the continuation of sexualisation of women by altering two in-game artworks.
Spotted by Wowhead, the new paintings replace the ones in Ravenholdt and S-I7 in Stormhead. The first featured a woman reclining on a lounger dressed in a harem-style outfit and mask. The second is a woman wearing a deep V-cut robe exposing her chest. In the images below, their changes are shown:
It's unknown whether or not Blizzard silently rolled out the replacement paintings as a result of the current legal troubles, as it has altered World of Warcraft content to reflect changing attitudes in the past. For example, in Cataclysm, dialogue was removed that referred to Sylvanas Windrunner as a "clever b*tch".
Additionally, Jaina Proudmoore's hero art was subtly changed in Hearthstone to take the focus away from her chest, and that was added in without any formal statement from the developer.
In the latest development in the ongoing lawsuit, there is a second case that has been filed against Activision regarding labour law violations. The Campaign to Organize Digital Employees claims that the company used intimidation to prevent its workers from "exercising their rights to stand together and demand a more equitable, sustainable, and diverse workplace".
Topics: Blizzard, World of Warcraft, Activision
