PlayerUnknown Apologizes For Potentially Offensive Character Models

Controversy brewed over the weekend when the test server for Bluehole Studios' Playerunknown's Battlegrounds was updated and a UV map for the female player model was allegedly updated as well. Apparently the female model contained some hint of genitalia, and it angered many people, causing the developer to apologize.

The topic might be NSFW, so you probably don't want to check it out while your boss is looming over your shoulder. But, according to PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds creative director, Brendan Greene, the alleged offensive character model is being removed from the game.

The apology was posted to the official PlayerUnknown Twitter handle, which is what Greene uses to address concerns or make announcements about PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds. Greene states that the base model file for the character hadn't been changed in over two years, but the team will update the file and remove the potentially offending parts.

Some users claimed that there were hints of some cameltoe in the female underwear, so much so that it was unrealistic that a woman would be able to fight in combat without feeling a great deal of discomfort. This lack of realism in a game like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds was seen as quite offensive to some groups, and, apparently, Greene agreed.

However, some people in the thread noted that despite taking screenshots of the characters, they were unable to find the offensive parts, and questioned exactly what needed to be changed. Some debates broke out over the issue, but ultimately Bluehole Studios decided that it was best not to offend anyone, so the model was being changed regardless of if people could see the offensive cameltoe or not.

It all started when someone made a post on Reddit with a comparison image saying that they noticed the change in the test server. Some people claimed that they couldn't find the changes in their own version of the game but it was brought to the attention of the developers when the following tweet went viral:

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has sold more than 25 million copies on Steam throughout the year, and it's one of the most played games in the world. It also managed to break multiple records for the most concurrent players being online at a time.

Bluehole's title has also managed to pick up an award from this year's The Game Award for best multiplayer title, and it's going to expand even further once Tencent manages to bring the game to mainland China for mobile users.

Don't expect anything controversial to make its way into the Chinese version of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, though. The Ministry of Culture is very peculiar about sex and certain kinds of violence over there, and Bluehole probably wouldn't want to get on their bad side.