Tomb Raider I-III Remastered was released earlier this year and received somewhat mixed reviews, with some technical shortcomings in particular undermining the entertainment value.
Fortunately, Aspyr heeded the criticism and has since been working on fixing the problems and adding new content. But apparently also removing content.
Several social media users now report that posters of Lara Croft that were previously present at the beginning of the fourth level (Sleeping with the Fishes) in Tomb Raider III have now disappeared after a recent update. The images showed some skin, albeit nothing directly naked, but apparently it was still over the line.
Previously, Crystal Dynamics was praised for choosing not to modify the old games, which had some elements that are not entirely compatible with today's values. They said:
"The games in this collection contain offensive depictions of people and cultures rooted in racism and ethnic prejudices. these stereotypes are deeply harmful, inexcusable, and do not align with our values at Crystal Dynamics.
Rather than removing this content, we have chosen to present it here in its original form, unaltered, in the hopes that we may acknowledge its harmful impact and learn from it."
Apparently, they have decided that these posters were so problematic that they could not be retained despite this approach, while "offensive depictions of people and cultures rooted in racism and ethnic prejudices" and severe animal cruelty (often of endangered creatures) are still included in the adventures. However, if you play on a PC, you can already mod the images back in.
Check out what the posters looked like in the X-post below, and what it looks like now. Do you think this was a sensible decision, and is it generally right to remove content from people's games?
<social>https://twitter.com/SmashJT/status/1781394105618362598</social>
Thanks, Nintendo Life.