Fans were hoping for an even better experience with Deadly Premonition 2 than they received in the first installment, but that does not seem to be the case. The title has been plagued with performance issues since release, and while that has been enough for players to speak up, the recent backlash comes from another issue within the game – the improper handling of a trans character.

Lena Dauman is the Deadly Premonition 2 character in question, with the development team not portraying the character in a proper manner. Lena is often misgendered purposefully throughout the game despite the fact that the lead character designer promised to do right by the trans community. In addition to this, the character’s deadname, which is the name assigned at birth, is used in the title. However, it was the implication that this character was incestuous, combined with the previous aspects, that has many people mad.

Good morning everyone.
I need to tell you about my apologies about DP2.
So I wrote message by myself with Google-sensei.
Please forgive my poor english skills.

SWERY pic.twitter.com/x5fR114HnF

— Hidetaka SWERY Skywalker (@Swery65) July 13, 2020

This led to Deadly Premonition 2 director Swery offering not only an apology, but action to back up their words. “I need to tell you about my apologies about DP2,” reads the tweet, which can be seen above. “So I wrote a message by myself with Google-sensei. Please forgive my poor English skills.” They then went on to offer an apology via Google Translate:

I realized by pointed out by friends, I might have hurt transgender people in my scenario. It wasn’t intentional, I am really sorry for that. Some scenes will be sanity checked by a team that included diversity and I will rewrite that scene ASAP.”

Here are more thoughts and observations on the matter from the community:

Seeing the transphobia in Deadly Premonition 2 really hurt.

But not for one second did I believe it was intentional.

This is why trans consultants are important.

While this should have never happened in the first place, seeing this apology means a lot to me.

Thank you, Swery. https://t.co/uJ4kHyxxDq

— RestlessDreams(Audrey) (@DreamsRestless) July 13, 2020

Finally got deep enough into Deadly Premonition 2 to experience some of the gross trans content firsthand. Starting to get a handle on the contexts in which misgendering and deadnaming pop up.

— Laura Kate Dale (@LaurakBuzz) July 11, 2020

Okay, so while I can’t confirm this as a certainly, the trans woman character’s voice sounds a LOT like the voice of cis male voice actor Billy Kametz. My current guess is, despite the one letter name difference, he does voice the character.

— Laura Kate Dale (@LaurakBuzz) July 10, 2020

Example of York switching to misgendering mid sentence in DP2 #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/Ir5kxCcUMX

— Laura Kate Dale (@LaurakBuzz) July 12, 2020

It’s good to see the Deadly Premonition 2 director act in addition to just offering up an apology as that is not always the case, but this shouldn’t have happened to begin with. The trans community is misrepresented in media all too often, and that includes in video games. The time to do better is now. Trans lives are human lives.

It is unknown when the changes to the game will arrive, but Deadly Premonition 2 is currently available on Nintendo Switch.

• Dragon’s Dogma Anime Arriving This September On Netflix
• Cyberpunk 2077 Devs Detail Santo Domingo District Along With New Concept Art
• Far Cry 6 Special Editions And Pre-Order Bonuses Detailed By Ubisoft

What say you, gamers? Are you glad to see the Deadly Premonition 2 director taking action in addition to their apology? Sound off in the comments section below, and be sure to follow DFTG on Twitter for live gaming and entertainment news 24/7.

If you enjoy this writer’s work, please consider supporting them by tossing a KoFi their way! Every little bit helps and aims to keep DFTG independent and free of bias. Thank you so much for your support!