Naughty Dog Designer Accused of Uglifying Stellar Blade's Eve

The main character concept designer from Naughty Dog recently shared artwork on Stellar Blade's official X account, sparking significant backlash from fans. Many criticized Hyun-taek's portrayal of Eva, describing the concept art as giving her a masculine appearance that was deemed unattractive and even repulsive. The majority of comments labeled this version of the Stellar Blade protagonist as "ugly" and "terrible." Some fans went further, accusing the Naughty Dog designer of attempting to make Eve "awakened," a term often used to signify a shift towards more inclusive or diverse character representations.

This incident is not an isolated case for Naughty Dog. The studio recently faced criticism for incorporating explicit Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) content in their newly unveiled game, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. The trailer for this sci-fi adventure amassed the highest number of dislikes for a video game trailer this year, surpassing the record previously held by Concord.

In stark contrast, Stellar Blade, developed by Shift Up, enjoyed immense success upon its release earlier this year. A significant factor in its popularity was the protagonist, Eve, whose design was widely praised for her objective beauty, earning her a universal fan favorite status. The original design of Eve by Shift Up was well-received by the gaming community, highlighting a clear divergence in fan reception between the two versions of the Stellar Blade protagonist.