Thunder Lotus, developer of recent indie hit Spiritfarer, has apologized for unintentionally including an ableist storyline through the writing of one of its character, and has pledged to revise the game to remove the offensive content. Spiritfarer casts players as Stella, a cheerful young girl who serves as the ferrymaster for the deceased. Players must upgrade their boat as they ferry deceased souls, who they can interact with and befriend in their travels before inevitably parting with them forever. It's received very favorable reviews for its beautiful art style, tender themes, and enjoyable simulation gameplay.
But it hasn't all been good news for Spiritfarer. Recently, Kayla Whaley - a Spiritfarer player who uses a wheelchair herself - took to Twitter to complain about how the game handled one of the deceased spirits Stella bonds with during her journey. Whaley summed up one character's thoughts on their journey to the afterlife as, "only in death was I able to be free from my dreaded wheelchair." As Whaley points out, a scene with the character in Spiritfarer invokes the ableist rhetoric that "death is better than disability" - a very harmful mindset that many disabled people constantly push against, and that she was understandably outraged to see in such an otherwise pleasant game. Whaley even took the time to point out that she was deeply enjoying the rest of the game.
These complaints are not being taken lightly by Spiritfarer's developer. Yesterday, Thunder Lotus posted an open letter on Twitter apologizing for its mistake. The company owned up, admitting that the language used by the character was harmful to disabled people and that it enforced an ableist viewpoint. Thunder Lotus emphasized that Spiritfarer was designed with a spirit of empathy in mind for every aspect, and that this insensitive rhetoric stood in strong contrast to this core message. The team closed the letter by promising to reexamine the game, studying it for any hint of insensitive language and removing it wherever necessary. Read the full message below.
This statement seems like more than just PR damage control, too. Thunder Lotus can be seen frequently in the replies to its own Twitter post, being vocal and open about what it did wrong and even frankly and earnestly debating fans who are coming to its defense and arguing that the game shouldn't be changed. The team even took the time to thank Kayla Whaley for her perspective when she showed up to commend Thunder Lotus for its commitment to change and improvement.
Spiritfarer is a game about kindness, love, and empathy, and it's tragic to see such a heartfelt project bogged down by such a harmful message. In an ideal world, no one would have to contend with seeing essential facets of their life treated so callously by the media they consume and love. Unfortunately, Thunder Lotus' mistake is far from the only example of harmful, ableist language being used in popular culture. The developer's dedication to correcting its error is very admirable, and assuming it follows through on its promise, it will serve as a shining example of how developers can admit their mistakes and actually make their games better by being more sensitive to their audiences' needs. Hopefully, in time, Spiritfarer will became the beautiful, inclusive game it was always meant to be.
Spiritfarer is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia, and PC.
Source: Thunder Lotus/Twitter, Kayla Whaley/Twitter
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