The backlash is limited to a small circle of online activists.
Certain “progressive” elements spotted in Kingdom Come: Deliverance II have sparked online criticism directed at Warhorse Studios.
In a recent interview with PC Gamer, executive producer Martin Klima was asked whether these heated debates had any tangible impact on the franchise’s commercial success, public image, or the developers’ morale.
“I would very much love to have a definitive answer to that. There are arguments to be made on both sides. You could convincingly claim that we gained extra notoriety—after all, any publicity is good publicity as long as they spell the name right. At the same time, one might argue that any controversy is inherently negative because we’d much rather focus on the game itself than navigate convoluted ideological debates.”
Klima personally believes that these scandals had a negligible effect on the sales of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II:
“My personal take is that this entire uproar only mattered to a tiny group of ‘culture warriors’ who represent a minuscule overlap with the general gaming audience. Actual players couldn’t care less, and the vast majority likely never even heard about these manufactured controversies.”
Regarding the internal mood at Warhorse: Klima suggests that if the team was affected at all, it was only “to a very small degree… We all felt that these attacks were profoundly unfair and disingenuous—both toward the original game and its successor.”
Source: iXBT.games