Since it first released back in 2021,Ready or Nothas taken up the mantle as the frontrunner of SWAT shooters. With that said, the game hasn’t been without its problems. From aimbot enemies and questionable AI to visual glitches and other performance issues, developer VOID Interactive hasworked tirelessly over the yearsto clean up any such issues.
However,ahead of the game’s release on Xbox and PlayStation on July 15th, a new set of tweaks has left PC players less than impressed, with some even going so far as to say that it “breaks the product we were sold”.
10 Best Tactical Shooters, Ranked
From Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to PUBG, these are the best tactical shooters ever made.
So what has got the PC Ready or Not community so irate? Primarily, it’s a series of minor changes that aim to sanitize the game in one way or another, taking away from itsoriginal darker atmosphere.
A Less Authentic SWAT Experience?
VOID Interactive has been quite open about the reasons for changes, stating in a Steam Development Briefing that “we’ve done our utmost to only make changes when they are flagged as absolutely required by our first party partners…”
This external influence wouldn’t be the first of its kind. IO Interactive’s CEO, Hakan Abrak, recently admittedin an interview with TheGameBusinessthat ‘external feedback’ had been shaping some design decisions for the upcoming 007: First Light.
As for Ready or Not, technical changes include some animation adjustments as well as tweaks to the dismemberment system so that players can no longer dismember NPCs who are already dead.
Additionally,content related to nudity and mistreatment against children has been ‘covered up a bit’and a convulsive animation removed. “Although we already make a substantial effort to present mistreatment against children in the game in a responsible way,” said VOID, “we made slight thematic expansions of this philosophy in order to better meet certification standards.”
While this certainly makes sense from a commercial standpoint, somePC players on Redditwere quick to react with calls for a review-bombing campaign. Additionally, a number of issues and unkept promises were also highlighted.
This wouldn’t be the first controversy Ready or Not has faced. Back in 2022, it wastemporarily delisted from Steamfor its depiction of a shooting inside a nightclub.
Either way, the new changes don’t appear to be altogether game-changing, even if the general development trend is moving the game away from its darker themes.
