Star Wars Outlaws dev defends ‘beautiful’ Kay Vess against the haters
One Star Wars Outlaws dev has defended the look of the 'beautiful' Kay Vess after an online controversy where haters referred to the game's hero as 'ugly'.
01st Aug 2024 10:12
Images via Massive Entertainment
Star Wars Outlaws dev defends ‘beautiful’ Kay Vess against the haters
One Star Wars Outlaws dev has defended the look of the 'beautiful' Kay Vess after an online controversy where haters referred to the game's hero as 'ugly'.
01st Aug 2024 10:12
Images via Massive Entertainment
It's a new dawn for the galaxy far, far away, and as Star Wars Outlaws prepares to go pew pew in the Mos Eisley Cantina, Massive Entertainment's game is still being Force-choked by the haters. At the centre of it all is Outlaws' protagonist Kay Vess - a no-nonsense smuggler who gives us some serious Sigourney Weaver in Alien vibes.
There's nothing like the smell of flagrant misogyny in the morning, and yet again, we're having a debate about the attractiveness of women in video games. It seems that unless some of you are being hypnotised by Stellar Blade's jiggle physics, you aren't happy with a woman leading your games.
Star Wars Outlaws dev brands Kay Vess 'beautiful'
Ever since we first got a look at Kay during a 2023 Xbox Showcase, the team has been caught in a Star Wars-esque dogfight with the haters. Even now, we get comments like, "Kay Vess from Star Wars Outlaws Looks So DAMN UGLY AS FK! with 100% Wokeness, which I'm NOT Pre-Ordering."
Others seem to have an issue that we've got a woman leading a Star Wars game, forgetting we've recently had two games led by Cal Kestis. Thankfully, the devs have rallied around the character, with Star Wars Outlaws Creative Director Julian Gerighty telling The Washington Post it's best not to engage with these types of people.
"Kay is meant to be approachable, a petty thief who ends up barreling through this story, making bad decisions and centered with a lot of humor, humility and toughness, that’s what’s important to me. And she’s beautiful, come on," said Gerighty.
"It makes no sense to me and it’s not worth engaging with. If you engage with bad faith people, there’s no nuance and no possibility of real dialogue. So all we can do is make the best game possible." While the team was always going to be supportive of Kay Vess, it's refreshing to see that the larger community is mostly behind her.
Voice actor Humberly Gonzalez has borne the brunt of the abuse, and while many have been supporting Kay, others have complained she doesn't look enough like the woman behind - sadly reducing Gonzalez herself to looks. It's the same argument we've seen aimed at everyone from Horizon's Aloy to GTA 6's Lucia.
A lot of this is obviously done for clicks, but in a time where Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was largely overshadowed amidst accusations of being 'woke' for the use of Harley Quinn instead of its actual flaws, it seems the trend is continuing. With Outlaws out on August 30, we can already see the inevitable review-bombing based purely on Kay's looks.
About The Author
Tom Chapman
Tom is Trending News Editor at GGRecon, with an NCTJ qualification in Broadcast Journalism and over seven years of experience writing about film, gaming, and television. With bylines at IGN, Digital Spy, Den of Geek, and more, Tom’s love of horror means he's well-versed in all things Resident Evil, with aspirations to be the next Chris Redfield.
