I can’t say I was ever a diehard fan of Skullgirls, but I am a fan nonetheless. The stylized hand-drawn characters, music, and unique personalities draw you in. I played mostly on mobile before eventually purchasing the PC version, and I did so because I appreciate the product they created. However, my feelings have changed since learning about the recent censorship.

Has the gameplay changed at all because of it? No. But I can’t help but wonder: who asked for the removal of suggestive imagery? Who requested the removal of armbands, altered cutscenes, or the removal of gallery art and the Russian-themed announcer? I can't think of anyone who would support such changes. I've never been in favor of censorship, and many people bought this game knowing it included suggestive content. Removing that suggestiveness feels like stripping away a core part of Skullgirls’ identity. If they wanted to move away from that aspect, fine, but outright removal is not the right approach.

If they had offered an option to disable the “suggestive” elements, I don’t think the backlash would have been as severe. Regarding the announcer, why couldn’t they provide an alternative voice option? With the time and resources spent on the removals, they could have easily invested in creating a free voice pack or an option to disable the suggestive content. Because of all this, I can’t support a product that censors and removes content without offering choices for the players.

There are better ways to handle this, and they chose the least favorable option. But why should my opinion matter? They already have my money, and removing the product from my Steam account would accomplish nothing. They seem to be responding to criticism by hiding negative comments and flooding the discussion with overly positive ones, almost like bot-generated responses. I don’t harbor any ill will or resentment toward them; I just wish they had chosen a better path.

As a side note, I recently discovered that Skullgirls was crowdfunded in 2013. Everyone who originally invested their money for the game contributed to its first DLC character, Squigly. The campaign raised nearly $830,000, which included stretch goals for additional characters like Big Band and Robo-Fortune, as well as several alternate character and announcer voice packs, alongside the gallery and voice pack features.


The Little Fighting Game That Could By: Patrick Klepek
https://www.giantbomb.com/articles/the-little-fighting-game-that-could/1100-4587/

Crowdfunding and publisher transition
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skullgirls