In one of the weirdest stories to come out of Astro Bot’s brilliant launch, which pays tribute to almost every major and minor PlayStation-centric game in history, one character’s creator is actually upset his hero made it into the game as a Bot.
That would be former Days Gone creative director John Garvin tweeting that he’s not amused that his game’s hero, Deacon St. John has been “reduced to a cartoon schill [sp] promoting some small game.” Seriously: Garvin goes on to say he “doesn’t’ know” Astro Bot and while he wishes them well he doesn’t want it to be at the “expense” of Days Gone.
And that something he’s created is used again, as a shill to “promote product.” He spends a number of other tweets fighting with people pushing back on that.
It’s a truly bizarre take as Astro Bot is clearly meant to be a lighthearted tribute to the entire history of PlayStation, and acknowledging each game with Bots is an honor not stealing IP to promote itself.
Garvin has been upset about the cancellation of a Days Gone sequel for years now, at one point blaming “woke reviewers” for its not-amazing reception.
According to sales numbers, Days Gone was the 13th best-selling game of the PS4 generation with 7.3 million sales, just a notch below Bloodborne at 7.46 million.
But yes, the critical reception did seem to have something to do with the game not getting a sequel, not just sales.
This is just the latest in a long string of Garvin controversies, but easily one of the weirder takes we’ve seen from him.
You can find Deacon in the game and unlock his trademark motorcycle.
It’s a cool thing to be featured and it never even occurred to me it was possible to think otherwise.
One character’s creator is actually upset that his hero made it into the game as a Bot, which is one of the strangest stories to come out of Astro Bot’s brilliant launch, which pays homage to almost every major and minor PlayStation-centric game in history.
Garvin continues by saying that even though he “doesn’t know” Astro Bot, he still wishes them well and doesn’t want it to come at the “expense” of Days Gone. Additionally, that which he has produced is once more used as a shill to “promote product.”. He sparsely responds to others who challenge that in several other tweets.
It’s a very strange perspective because Astro Bot is obviously intended to be a humorous ode to the entire PlayStation history, and recognizing every game with a bot is an honor rather than a way to steal intellectual property for commercial gain.
For years, Days Gone’s cancellation has troubled Garvin, who once accused “woke reviewers” of being to blame for the film’s lackluster reception. In a since-deleted tweet, he gave the following reasons.
1. It had technical problems with streaming, frame rate, and bugs.
2. . It featured reviewers who were too lazy to pick up the game and play it.
3. . Finally, some of the reviews were too sensitive to see a rough-and-tumble white biker staring at his date’s behind.
Bend Studio eventually completely rejected this sentiment, to the point where they had to issue the following statement:.
When the game was released in 2019, it received an ok Metacritic score of 71, which was far lower than many other first-party Sony hits that were typically in the upper 80s or 90s. Days Gone sold 7 point 3 million copies, placing it just below Bloodborne’s 7 point 46 million sales, making it the 13th best-selling game of the PS4 generation. Indeed, the negative reviews did appear to be related to the game’s lack of a sequel, not just the sales figures.
Though it’s merely the most recent in a long line of controversy involving Garvin, this is undoubtedly one of his strangest responses to date. Deacon’s iconic motorcycle can be unlocked in the game by finding him. Along with more than 170 other bots with PlayStation themes. Being featured is awesome, and I never even considered the possibility of thinking differently.
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