When contacted by Gamasutra, a Telltale Games representative responded with the following statement:
"An update to the game has been subm… moreitted this morning that will be removing the image across all platforms. We regret this incident occurred, and we are taking appropriate action internally to ensure that we continue to maintain our high standards in Production and Quality Assurance."
It isn't super noticeable. The large open vault will immediately draw the person's attention. And to those who haven't heard of this controversy would have no idea that it would be that man's tie. Plus, having it only be a tie... it could be anybody (though we all know that's not the case)
So you'll only really see it if you're looking for it, but it is still there in an indistinguishable form.
Like Abeille said, that was one of the biggest things about this whole story, the photos looked almost fake and it was a huge talking point about how eerie they looked because they were in fact real.
So the fact that Telltale used these photos and didnt notice that it was from one of those many famous pictures is really just weird and disturbing.
I think it should be worded as it being a shot of someone being dead, not of a dead guy (since there are plenty of photos of dead people but… more not showing them being dead).
I agree that this is horrible for several reasons, even if I haven't heard the news about it before, but is that photo really real? The camera positioning, lack of wounds/blood, and the placement of the bodies (I'm including the standing gun user) seems so...manufactured? I don't doubt the incident happening, I'm just doubting that this is an actual photo.
Also, this is so going to make things harder when it comes to saving certain people there.
Yeah to be honest I wasnt expecting them to say or do anything at all until the Russian Government started talking about it, if for some reason they didnt say anything about it, I bet Telltale wouldnt have done anything
Why are children playing this game? That's just bad parenting. Also, this is the thing that people find unacceptable? That it too closely resembles a real life crime scene? I mean, any chalk outline, or dead body could be... I still don't see the drama in this.
It is your job to review games before you greenlight them, it's your job to make sure youre not stealing when adding content to your game, i… morets your job to make sure a real fucking dead guy isnt in your game that CHILDREN PLAY. It's hardly a mistake but just laziness and poor development. Quit defending them.
Maybe I became a jerk but I don't see what is the problem there.
Artists oftenly use models of real life to create content. The guy probabl… morey check on google people lying on the floor.
I mean they didn't use his model to make fun of him, they didn't disrespect him. And for the family I doubt they would have recognized him..
No one deserves to lose their jobs over this. An honest mistake from an overworked artist, and one that Telltale will very swiftly fix without doubt. Certainly isn't worth the boo-hoo.
Hey, why don't you just write to him so we'll have even more unnecessary drama long after the picture was removed. Oh, and while you're at it, just write to the family of the diplomat as well. And the Russian government. That'll help, mate, and it's in no way completely overblown gamer outrage. Maybe you can keep this going for weeks if you really, really try.
It's obviously a fuck up. A really stupid one and the person who did it obviously needs to be reprimanded for not making sure it was an actual stock photo. But not everyone looks at the assets during development and it was probably someone who didn't realise the significance of the image (it does honestly look like a stock image) or even possibly it was a placeholder that was left on there by accident.
Man, some people (not just on the forums, other places as well) are vilifying Telltale like they were the ones who murdered the diplomat themselves and put it in their game as a reminder to people. This feels blown way way WAY out of proportion.
Some people are even acting like it was so obvious all of a sudden. Like I'm gonna look at a dead guy in a suit in a video game and think "Hey, that's the russian politician who got assassinated live on TV!"
Hey, why don't you just write to him so we'll have even more unnecessary drama long after the picture was removed. Oh, and while you're at i… moret, just write to the family of the diplomat as well. And the Russian government. That'll help, mate, and it's in no way completely overblown gamer outrage. Maybe you can keep this going for weeks if you really, really try.
Here's a suggestion: Because the image was removed and the apology provided, would it not be best for this thread to be shut down? It's really not a good feeling coming to this section of the forums and seeing this thread at the top instead of something more related to the actual game. Yes, they messed up. Yes, it's not a good sign. Yes, it's disrespectful. But mistakes like this happen. The issue has been resolved. There's no need to get offended on the behalf of the ones that have an actual connection to the diplomat. And honestly, this feels like a not so subtle excuse to trash Telltale now, like do you think every single person that works there knew of this image? That everybody there is somehow responsible for this? Of course they weren't. This was likely nothing more than an unfortunate accident. And in all honesty, don't you think it'd be better to let this go already?
I simply wonder whether the owner of the photograph has commented on this issue. Contrary to what you seem to have assumed, I barely care about what happened—otherwise I would've researched this myself.
Oh, and while you're at it, just write to the family of the diplomat as well.
If they haven't heard of what happened, I'd rather keep it that way. I can't imagine how horrible it must be to learn that a picture of your murdered father was used as a prop in a video game. It'd be better to spare them that pain.
I doubt they haven't heard about it, though.
And the Russian government.
The government already acknowledged it.
That'll help, mate, and it's in no way completely overblown gamer outrage.
Yeah I don't think this is "completely overblown gamer outrage," considering that this necessarily confirms one of the two:
Telltale found the picture on Google, believed it was a stock photo, and decided to incorporate in their game without checking up with the owner first.
Telltale knew it was not a stock photo, and therefore an unstaged picture featuring a real murder, but used it anyway.
And it also suggests they didn't greenlight the episode.
Maybe you can keep this going for weeks if you really, really try.
Hey, why don't you just write to him so we'll have even more unnecessary drama long after the picture was removed. Oh, and while you're at i… moret, just write to the family of the diplomat as well. And the Russian government. That'll help, mate, and it's in no way completely overblown gamer outrage. Maybe you can keep this going for weeks if you really, really try.
It recently happened and its related to the game so people should be able to talk about it, so no, it shouldn't be closed. But knowing this forum it'll probably get closed like everything else does and people will still talk about it on other websites where everyone has migrated to.
Here's a suggestion: Because the image was removed and the apology provided, would it not be best for this thread to be shut down? It's real… morely not a good feeling coming to this section of the forums and seeing this thread at the top instead of something more related to the actual game. Yes, they messed up. Yes, it's not a good sign. Yes, it's disrespectful. But mistakes like this happen. The issue has been resolved. There's no need to get offended on the behalf of the ones that have an actual connection to the diplomat. And honestly, this feels like a not so subtle excuse to trash Telltale now, like do you think every single person that works there knew of this image? That everybody there is somehow responsible for this? Of course they weren't. This was likely nothing more than an unfortunate accident. And in all honesty, don't you think it'd be better to let this go already?
What more is there to be said? You said your piece as did others. I think people get the point of it now. But it's irrelevant now and causing pointless infighting over someone completely unrelated to this game now. It's just controversial bait and IMO the sooner people forget about this the better. This is the first case of Telltale messing up like this and hopefully the last. Let's not prioritize harmful controversy over actual meaningful, fun discussion. And believe me, I'm not keen on immediately removing threads because of some political incorrectness or some controversial thought but this has been going on for some time and doesn't need to be fueled further. At least not here is what I'm saying.
It recently happened and its related to the game so people should be able to talk about it, so no, it shouldn't be closed. But knowing this… more forum it'll probably get closed like everything else does and people will still talk about it on other websites where everyone has migrated to.
Comments
LOL "fuck it, dont feel like removing it. just crop it out." But they still manage to not crop it out completely. I find that funny as fuck.
It isn't super noticeable. The large open vault will immediately draw the person's attention. And to those who haven't heard of this controversy would have no idea that it would be that man's tie. Plus, having it only be a tie... it could be anybody (though we all know that's not the case)
So you'll only really see it if you're looking for it, but it is still there in an indistinguishable form.
Well when I first played I didn't even notice the dead bodies.
Oh stfu to
The image looks like something from a shitty action movie not real life
Like Abeille said, that was one of the biggest things about this whole story, the photos looked almost fake and it was a huge talking point about how eerie they looked because they were in fact real.
So the fact that Telltale used these photos and didnt notice that it was from one of those many famous pictures is really just weird and disturbing.
Yeah to be honest I wasnt expecting them to say or do anything at all until the Russian Government started talking about it, if for some reason they didnt say anything about it, I bet Telltale wouldnt have done anything
Oh, and then this topic finally made it to The Know; A Video Game News channel on YouTube..
Got an update on steam. Pretty sure they patched it out, but too lazy to check.
And yep its removed, also an apology can we move on now from this?
I just got an update for the game. Is that something to do with the picture ?
Yeah I just got it in my Xbox. I wonder what the replacement picture is now.
Has anything been said by the photographer?
You know, like, the legal owner of the photograph?
Exactly. I don't understand what the kerfuffle is about. Is the family going to sue TTG?
Why are children playing this game? That's just bad parenting. Also, this is the thing that people find unacceptable? That it too closely resembles a real life crime scene? I mean, any chalk outline, or dead body could be... I still don't see the drama in this.
I feel the same. Like, dude's dead. His family probably didn't recognize it. Why the hoopla?
It's the same picture, zoomed in. This
No one deserves to lose their jobs over this. An honest mistake from an overworked artist, and one that Telltale will very swiftly fix without doubt. Certainly isn't worth the boo-hoo.
Yeah. I guess that's what led to the mistake. Life imitating art a little too convincingly.
Hey, why don't you just write to him so we'll have even more unnecessary drama long after the picture was removed. Oh, and while you're at it, just write to the family of the diplomat as well. And the Russian government. That'll help, mate, and it's in no way completely overblown gamer outrage. Maybe you can keep this going for weeks if you really, really try.
It's obviously a fuck up. A really stupid one and the person who did it obviously needs to be reprimanded for not making sure it was an actual stock photo. But not everyone looks at the assets during development and it was probably someone who didn't realise the significance of the image (it does honestly look like a stock image) or even possibly it was a placeholder that was left on there by accident.
Man, some people (not just on the forums, other places as well) are vilifying Telltale like they were the ones who murdered the diplomat themselves and put it in their game as a reminder to people. This feels blown way way WAY out of proportion.
Some people are even acting like it was so obvious all of a sudden. Like I'm gonna look at a dead guy in a suit in a video game and think "Hey, that's the russian politician who got assassinated live on TV!"
It was a simple question. Was anything said by the photographer... no one mentioned nor did anyone suggest that the photographer should be contacted.
Here's a suggestion: Because the image was removed and the apology provided, would it not be best for this thread to be shut down? It's really not a good feeling coming to this section of the forums and seeing this thread at the top instead of something more related to the actual game. Yes, they messed up. Yes, it's not a good sign. Yes, it's disrespectful. But mistakes like this happen. The issue has been resolved. There's no need to get offended on the behalf of the ones that have an actual connection to the diplomat. And honestly, this feels like a not so subtle excuse to trash Telltale now, like do you think every single person that works there knew of this image? That everybody there is somehow responsible for this? Of course they weren't. This was likely nothing more than an unfortunate accident. And in all honesty, don't you think it'd be better to let this go already?
No. There you go.
i'm quite speechless.
I simply wonder whether the owner of the photograph has commented on this issue. Contrary to what you seem to have assumed, I barely care about what happened—otherwise I would've researched this myself.
If they haven't heard of what happened, I'd rather keep it that way. I can't imagine how horrible it must be to learn that a picture of your murdered father was used as a prop in a video game. It'd be better to spare them that pain.
I doubt they haven't heard about it, though.
The government already acknowledged it.
Yeah I don't think this is "completely overblown gamer outrage," considering that this necessarily confirms one of the two:
Telltale found the picture on Google, believed it was a stock photo, and decided to incorporate in their game without checking up with the owner first.
Telltale knew it was not a stock photo, and therefore an unstaged picture featuring a real murder, but used it anyway.
And it also suggests they didn't greenlight the episode.
Okay.
LOL thanks.
It recently happened and its related to the game so people should be able to talk about it, so no, it shouldn't be closed. But knowing this forum it'll probably get closed like everything else does and people will still talk about it on other websites where everyone has migrated to.
What more is there to be said? You said your piece as did others. I think people get the point of it now. But it's irrelevant now and causing pointless infighting over someone completely unrelated to this game now. It's just controversial bait and IMO the sooner people forget about this the better. This is the first case of Telltale messing up like this and hopefully the last. Let's not prioritize harmful controversy over actual meaningful, fun discussion. And believe me, I'm not keen on immediately removing threads because of some political incorrectness or some controversial thought but this has been going on for some time and doesn't need to be fueled further. At least not here is what I'm saying.