The PS4 remaster of Quantic Dream’s Beyond Two Souls has been released, and while it looks a lot prettier after making the jump to Sony’s latest console, that’s not the only thing that’s changed about the game – it’s also seemingly lightened the skin of several of its characters of color.
The comparison was made by Twitter user @Pleasure__Kevin, who pointed out that several characters featured in the remaster’s ‘The Embassy’ chapter had whiter skin than they had in the original PS3 game.
Whitewashing in the Beyond Two Souls HD remaster? pic.twitter.com/jtm8dzHMrc
— Woke Skele Kevin (@Pleasure__Kevin) November 29, 2015
Every brown person is white now. pic.twitter.com/69K4CMmqsT
— Woke Skele Kevin (@Pleasure__Kevin) November 29, 2015
Comparing walkthroughs of the PS3 and PS4 versions of the game also highlights how a number of characters in the background of the PS4 version have notably whiter skin than they do in the PS3 version.
Here’s a walkthrough of the PS3 version of the game (skip to the 13-minute mark to get to The Embassy level):
And here’s a walkthrough of the same level on the PS4 remaster:
It has been suggested that this issue could be the result of a weird lighting issue, but considering a few of the characters have had their facial structure completely altered (see @Pleasure__Kevin’s first tweet), it seems equally likely that this was a conscious decision made by the game’s developers.
We have reached out to Quantic Dream for comment and will update this story if they respond.
