Square Enix has come under fire for describing Forspoken protagonist Frey Holland, who is Black, as having a “hip-hoppy kind of walk”.
The comment was made during a recent preview session attended by Eurogamer, and was part of a section dedicated to the game’s performance capture.
Other descriptors of Forspoken’s main character seen to be negative Black stereotypes have also been criticised, such as a mention of Holland as being “an orphan” and “very angry”.
11 New Details You Need to Know About Forspoken – Forspoken PS5 4K Gameplay Watch on YouTube
The comments above were made by BAFTA-nominated performance director Tom Keegan, who is overseeing performance capture on Forspoken.
Keegan said the following, which we have transcribed in full below for context:
“I think this is really a story about tribe and family. And when I’m first starting a project I think really deeply about the big themes – what are they and how do they relate to my own life? And then I ask the actors to do the same.