The facial animations in Mass Effect: Andromeda have been a hot talking point on the internet for a while now, as footage emerged online showing puzzling faces pulled by some of the characters (we talked about this in our review), but an online witch hunt has since targetted one particular individual, as well as aiming claims at Bioware such as that they purposely made female characters look ugly.
The individual, Allie Rose-Marie Leost, labelled herself as lead facial animator for the game on her Twitter account, a label which has since been removed, and this led people online such as Ethan Ralph to direct harassment towards her regarding the facial animations in the game, claiming she was a cosplayer with no video game experience, as well as other insulting claims.
You can see archived posts from Ralph's Twitter here (the account has since been suspended), which includes screenshots of Leost's profile, claiming she was the facial animator at Electronic Arts.
Bioware's General Manager Aaryn Flynn has released a statement over the weekend, saying: "Recently, a former EA employee was misidentified as a lead member of the Mass Effect: Andromeda team. These reports are false."
"We respect the opinions of our players and community, and welcome feedback on our games. But attacking individuals, regardless of their involvement in the project, is never acceptable."
It's unclear whether Flynn was specifically referring to Leost, as some have speculated it could be regarding former employee Manveer Heir, former lead gameplay designer, who got in hot water for racially insensitive social media posts.
Do you think the facial animations are worth getting this riled up about?