Bend Studio Responds To Ex-Director’s Comments About Woke Reviews

Former Director of Days Gone at PlayStation’s Bend Studio, John Garvin, has been pretty fired up since he was unceremoniously booted from the studio following the launch of Days Gone and the mixed-to-positive reviews that it received.

A couple of days ago, the former Days Gone Director was questioned on Twitter as to what he thought were the main reasons behind the game’s lesser reception by critics (largely citing the Metacritic score of 71), and why he though the game didn’t get as much praise as he thought it deserved. To this, Garvin responded with,

Three reasons. 1) It had tech issues like bugs, streaming, and frame rate. 2) It had reviewers who couldn’t be bothered to actually play the game. 3) And three, it had ‘woke’ reviewers who couldn’t handle a gruff white biker looking at his date’s ass.

Although this is a sentiment that Garvin has previously expressed, this time it picked up a lot of traction, and has led the team at Bend Studio to respond publicly to Garvin’s comments. In a statement issued to Twitter, the studio rejects the sentiments expressed by Garvin, saying,

We are aware of the comments made by our previous Creative Director on Days Gone regarding his personal view on the critical reception of our intellectual property. Bend Studio does not share his sentiment, nor does it reflect the videws of our team. Our studio is immensely proud of the work we accomplished on Days Gone and are thankful to every developer who poured their heart and soul into it.

We are incredibly humbled by the support of our Days Gone community and we will continue to share your enthusiasm for our world and characters as we look toward the future

– Bend Studio

Since the original tweets from Garvin, he’s been active on Twitter making comments along the lines of “Man, who knew the word “woke” was so triggering.”

Now that he has departed Bend Studio, Garvin works with fellow PlayStation alumni Michael Mumbauer at new studio Liithos, where they’re working on a new IP, Ashfall, with Garvin serving as the game’s Vice President, Creator, Writer, and Director.

Since the recent Twitter comments went viral, Garvin has locked his Twitter profile, preventing outside voices from responding to him. As for Bend Studio, they’re at work on a new IP, while earlier in 2022 the studio was celebrating the 10th Anniversary of their work on the Uncharted spin-off, Uncharted: Golden Abyss for the PS Vita.

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