Naughty Dog, the acclaimed studio behind gaming giants like The Last of Us and Uncharted, unveiled their latest project, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, at The Game Awards 2024. This new PS5 IP, however, has been met with a less than enthusiastic response. The reveal trailer, posted on both PlayStation and Naughty Dog’s YouTube channels, has garnered significantly more dislikes than likes. Naughty Dog, seemingly anticipating this backlash, disabled comments on their own YouTube upload.
Popular streamer and YouTuber Asmongold, known for his candid commentary on gaming news, weighed in on the controversy. His video analysis, trending on YouTube since its release, has accumulated over 800,000 views in under 24 hours. Asmongold’s perspective? Largely critical, particularly regarding the choice of protagonist.
Asmongold’s Concerns About the Protagonist and Target Audience
Asmongold’s critique begins with a quote from his own X post: “Maybe it’s just me but I feel like the market for masculine, non conventionally attractive female leads in games isn’t as big as the video game industry thinks it is.” He expands on this point in his video, suggesting the character design might have seemed more appealing when the game’s development began, potentially over five years ago.
Acknowledging the game’s impressive visuals, Asmongold draws a comparison to art appreciation: “The graphics for this are really good. If you don’t like the character or whatever… there are a lot of paintings that I’m not a fan of, but I can admire that it looks really good.” However, he argues that a space bounty hunting game with an 80s retro aesthetic, featuring laser swords and gunfights, inherently targets a predominantly male audience. He contends that creating a protagonist who doesn’t resonate with this core demographic can negatively impact the game’s success.
Asmongold dismisses the notion of dismissing negative feedback as simply bigotry, stating: “You can talk about people being misogynist, they’re racists, they’re bigots, they’re stupid gamers, you shouldn’t listen to them, but at the end of the day you are not going to bully those people into buying the game.” He cites previous examples like Concord and Veilguard to illustrate his point. The preemptive disabling of comments on Naughty Dog’s trailer, he observes, further suggests a lack of confidence in the game’s reception.
Negative Trailer Metrics Reinforce Concerns
Asmongold concludes his video by highlighting the concerning metrics surrounding the trailer. He questions the decision to save this particular reveal for the end of The Game Awards, given its potential for controversy. “I was kinda surprised they saved this trailer for the end,” he comments. “They had to turn the comments off. If you look at the dislike extension, the game is getting mass disliked.” He emphasizes the importance of acknowledging these numbers, regardless of personal opinions: “It is very obvious this game did not [receive] a very good reception with audiences, right? Whether you agree with it or not, you got [to] look at the numbers, and that’s it.”
Conclusion: A Rocky Start for Intergalactic
The initial reception to Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet has been decidedly mixed. Asmongold’s critique, focusing on the protagonist’s design and its perceived mismatch with the target audience, reflects a broader sentiment expressed in the trailer’s negative metrics. Whether Naughty Dog will address these concerns remains to be seen, but the game’s rocky start undoubtedly presents a challenge for the studio.
