The Shelter: A Surviuval Story actress Rachel Lally has requested that developer Randall Herman, who uses the monikor Skaldic Games, remove her voice and likeness from the game due to Herman's homophobic 'Kill the Faggot' – which was intended to be a mini-game in a much larger open-world adventure, ArsTechnica reports.
You can see footage of the game in the video above from critic Jim Sterling but it is highly offensive in nature. The game rewards players for shooting trans and gay people, while punishing players for shooting straight NPCs.
KTF launched on Steam Greenlight on Monday before being pulled just two hours later by Valve. Following the game's removal, Skaldic Games' website issued a statement in an attempt to explain its creation and Herman says he is still working on The Shelter, which KTF is supposed to be part of.
He said the game's poor quality was due to the fact that it was developed "in only a few days."
"These people that think if you are even remotely homophobic, you are 'hateful' and a 'bigot,' and do everything they can to destroy you in every vicious way possible," Herman wrote. "So I decided to go down a path that most developers are afraid to go down: to piss these people off by making the most overly offensive game possible to these idiots to prove a point."
On Facebook, Lally – who voices a merchant in The Shelter – commented in an extensive update that she is "upset and distressed by your decision to release 'Kill the Faggot'.
"I recorded some voice overs for characters within the survival game 'The Shelter', created by this company. The grossly homophobic 'Kill the Faggot' was released yesterday and it was revealed that it would form a mini game within 'The Shelter'. I nor anyone else involved was informed of this and was notified only by outraged members of the public I am upset and appalled and want no further contact or association with Skaldic or their agenda.
"I don't see the merit, humor or artistry in 'pissing people off'' and was certainly not made aware that that is what Skaldic is about or aims to do. It is easy to 'piss people off' as you say, what is difficult and what we as creators, artists and collaborators should strive to do is to reveal, challenge and hopefully change attitudes in an enlightening and thought provoking way. Not by relying on outdated stereotypes and intentionally offending easy targets or minorities simply for attention.
"I am also aggrieved by the fact that you would call anyone offended by your actions an 'idiot', here you are sorely mistaken as I can clearly see I am more educated and possess more empathy than you have had the fortune to be exposed to on this subject at the given time. I really hope that this will change."
She added that "You sought to offend and I am well and truly offended." Lally also requested that her voice, name, and likeness from The Shelter and other Skaldic projects.
