Ready or Not developer VOID Interactive faced backlash in June for “censoring” the game to comply with the console certification process. The developer has defended its choices as not fundamentally altering Ready or Not’s violence or its grim tone, but instead making minimal alterations to ensure compliance with the requirements of other platforms. In the wake of the backlash, VOID Interactive has released a new statement that clarifies exactly what content has been altered, going as far as to include “before” and “after” images to illustrate changes.

The statement emphasizes that no major changes have come to Ready or Not’s shootouts. Players can still sever the limbs of foes with gunfire and it still includes plenty of blood and guts. However, players can no longer dismember the dead bodies of enemies. Elsewhere, the update removes nudity, softens an allusion to child sexual-abuse material, and replaces a convulsing NPC with a sleeping one. The statement elaborates, “The effects of gore and violence — key to the game’s immersive realism — have not been toned down…we’ve only made changes where absolutely required, and only to the letter of the regulations — no further.”

The statement has not halted the backlash. Portions of the game’s community has continued to review bomb Ready or Not. While the overall rating is steady at “very positive,” recent reviews have plummeted to “mostly negative.” Multiple reviewers claim the changes have had a dramatic effect on the game’s tone. One says, “It now feels like just another generic tactical shooter, weighed down by clunky AI and stripped of the atmosphere that set it apart.” Other reviews find the controversy incredibly silly, with one reviewer advising the aggrieved to “touch grass.”

Ready or Not is still on discount as part of the Steam Summer Sale. The base game is available for $25 and a bundle including DLC is $39. The game comes to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on July 15.

Kompletter Artikel: Ready Or Not Dev Clarifies Content Changes, Rejects Accusations of Censorship

Ready or Not has been a huge hit for Void Interactive over on Steam, getting good reviews from critics and consumers alike. However, players have turned against the developer, with the game getting pelted by negative reviews over the past week. The reason? Void removed some material from the game in order to get it certified for its console port.

“Throughout this console port process we’ve done our utmost to only make changes when they are flagged as absolutely required by our first party partners, and any changes aim to remain faithful to the original tonality of the game, so there is no reason to be alarmed,” Void said in a statement. “Our age rating as it stands for console is ESRB M-rating, PEGI 18, and USK 18 to give an idea. Still, there are other game content requirements that console platforms have in order to exist on their systems, and a portion of these changes will be visible on the PC version.”

Void went on to describe the changes of the level of gore, but insist for the most part, everything will still be in tact. For example, dismemberment still has a large presence in the game, but is a little more limited.

“When alive enemies are shot they can undergo dismemberment; however, once they are dead no further dismemberment occurs. (Note: The level of dismemberment itself when it occurs was not actually toned down),” it added. “Ultimately, we consider this an okay compromise considering our gameplay design already dissuades use of lethal force anyway.”

Many players vehemently disagreed.

“Loved the game. Absolutely intense to run against people. But with the recent compliance of censorship for console I won’t recommend playing anymore,” one said. “I absolutely love this game, but censoring it is a bad move. They should have just made a seperate console version,” said another, echoing the decision.

The influx of these responses has lowered Ready or Not’s recent rating–its rating based exclusively on reviews posted in the last 30 days–from “very positive” to “mixed.” However, not every fan feels that these changes are a deal breaker.

“The hate is not warranted, there are some bugs but there small if any, I just got this game and am loving it so far,” a player said. “I got this game for me and my brothers and it’s a great time.”

Ready or Not is currently on sale until July 10 with the base game by itself for $25 and the base game and the DLC bundles for $39.

Kompletter Artikel: Ready Or Not Censoring Content To Get Certified For Console Release, Upsetting Fans

Void Interactive, the developer behind the tactical first-person shooter game, Ready or Not, has confirmed that it was hacked. Fortunately, no player data or staff data was stolen.

In a statement to Kotaku, the developer blamed the hack on “critical vulnerabilities” that were discovered in TeamCity’s cloud services for build management. No sensitive information was leaked and the hackers were only able to get away with “some” source code and screenshots of its upcoming projects.

According to Insider Gaming, the hack reportedly happened in March, prior to the studio publicly revealing it, and the perpetrators made off with 4TB of data. The data was reportedly stolen in March, and apparently contained Ready or Not builds for PlayStation and Xbox consoles.

Ready or Not was released into Early Access in December 2021 and launched into 1.0 in December 2023. Its original publisher, Team17, dropped the game after it gained controversy for promising a school shooting mission. Its Steam page indicates that Void Interactive moved forward with self-publishing after losing Team17’s support.

Ready or Not has garnered mostly positive reviews, sitting at a 79% on Metacritic. However, the game has gotten some criticism lately for the 1.0 version’s gameplay changes and bugs.

Kompletter Artikel: Ready Or Not Developer Confirms It Was Hacked, Source Code Stolen

Jonathan Ferguson, a weapons expert and Keeper of Firearms & Artillery at the Royal Armouries, breaks down more of the weaponry of Ready or Not, including a training Glock pistol, the Supernova shotgun, and a futuristic-looking Pepperball gun.

Kompletter Artikel: Firearms Expert Reacts To Ready Or Not Guns PART 3

Today we’re asking Billy Billingham, an ex member of the SAS Special Forces to react to a selection of tactical shooters games, virtual special forces operations as well as tactics in games like Battlefield 3 or Ghost Recon.

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Jonathan Ferguson, a weapons expert and Keeper of Firearms & Artillery at the Royal Armouries, breaks down more of the weaponry of Ready or Not, including the beanbag shotgun, the G36 and the UMP-45.

Kompletter Artikel: "A Weird G36!" – Firearms Expert Reacts To MORE Ready Or Not Guns

Jonathan Ferguson, a weapons expert and Keeper of Firearms & Artillery at the Royal Armouries, breaks down the weaponry of Ready Or Not including a number of non-lethal firearms such as the Taser and a paintball gun that fires irritant, as well as more conventional weapons like the MP5 and the FN FAL.

Kompletter Artikel: “Positively Shocking” – Firearms Expert Reacts To Ready Or Not’s Guns

Tactical shooter Ready or Not, which sees players commanding a S.W.A.T. team to defuse hostile situations and rescue hostages, will no longer be published by Team17.

While no specific reason was given by the publisher, many are pointing to the fact that a Ready or Not developer from Void Interactive recently made a (since-removed) comment on Reddit to say, “You better believe it’s gonna,” when asked if the game would receive a mission set during a school shooting. While there isn’t currently a mission set in a school in the game, Ready or Not’s cinematic reveal trailer does include a brief glimpse at what looks to be a school setting.

Team17 has not elaborated on the reason for ending the partnership, telling Kotaku in a statement that the agreement to no longer publish the game was mutual, that it wishes Void Interactive the best, and that it has no further comment at the moment.

Void Interactive’s statement also doesn’t mention a reason for the breakup, only stating that the decision was mutual.

“Void Interactive and Team17 have mutually agreed that Team17 will no longer publish Ready or Not,” a tweet from Void Interactive reads. ” We are confident that this is the right path for the future of Ready or Not, and we thank Team17 for their partnership and wish them great success with their spectrum of games.”

In a follow-up tweet, Void Interactive stated that it is still dedicated to supporting Ready or Not and will be taking into account player feedback as it looks to roll out frequent updates to the game in the coming weeks and months. The developer also promised improvements to AI behaviors, adding more voiceovers, mod support, and new levels. It’s currently unclear if those new levels would include a school shooting mission. Ready or Not recently entered Early Access on Steam and currently has “Overwhelmingly Positive” reviews.

Kompletter Artikel: Tactical Shooter Ready Or Not Loses Publisher After Dev Promises School Shooting Mission

Ready or Not is a tactical shooter that drops players into the role of elite operatives working to diffuse a range of hostile situations.

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