{"id":53477,"date":"2025-10-31T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T15:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=53477"},"modified":"2025-10-30T18:03:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T09:03:13","slug":"shift-up-says-it-doesnt-tolerate-any-expressions-of-hate-in-nikke-following-backlash-over-alleged-small-genital-gesture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/shift-up-says-it-doesnt-tolerate-any-expressions-of-hate-in-nikke-following-backlash-over-alleged-small-genital-gesture\/","title":{"rendered":"Shift Up says it \u201cdoesn\u2019t tolerate any expressions of hate\u201d in NIKKE following backlash over alleged \u201csmall genital\u201d gesture\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To commemorate the three-year-anniversary of third-person shooter RPG Goddess of Victory: NIKKE<\/strong>, Shift Up recently released a special developers\u2019 interview video<\/a> discussing the game\u2019s future and addressing players\u2019 questions and concerns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As reported by ThisIsGame<\/a>, Shift Up\u2019s NIKKE team also dedicated part of this stream to taking a firm stance against \u201chateful expressions\u201d in the game. Director Hyungsuk Yoo commented, \u201cWe will never tolerate anyone intentionally inserting hate speech into NIKKE or approaching the game with that mindset.\u201d He mentions that the studio has recently taken steps to fortify its internal quality review process and project management system to prevent \u201crecurrence of issues.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the developers weren\u2019t specific about what this refers to, the statement was likely meant to address a controversial incident from earlier this year. In August, Shift Up released a commemorative illustration celebrating the game\u2019s 1,000th day since launch. However, the artwork quickly blew up among a portion of Korean players, who alleged that the hands of two characters were posed so as to evoke a \u201cfinger-pinching gesture\u201d (seen below).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although it doesn\u2019t mean much overseas, this gesture, known as the jibgeson<\/em> or \u201ccrab hand\u201d is highly controversial in South Korea due to its association with specific radical feminist groups considered to be \u201cantimale\u201d or misandrist. Said groups used the gesture as a way to mock Korean men, suggesting they have small genitals. Years of heated gender wars between radical feminists and radical anti-feminists in the country have heightened sensitivity towards the gesture to the point that even big businesses like Apple<\/a> and Renault<\/a> have been pressured into revising ads which unwittingly evoked the crab hand. It\u2019s been a problem in the game industry too, with Nexon\u2019s artists receiving death threats<\/a> over a single animation frame suspected of being \u201csecret feminist propaganda.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the backlash, NIKKE\u2019s development team issued an official apology<\/a>. They explained that the artwork was outsourced from an overseas studio and that there was no agenda or hateful intent behind it. They apologized for the misunderstanding and issued a revised version of the illustration, with the characters\u2019 hands posed differently (seen below). Shift Up also distributed free in-game items to atone for the oversight, but judging by the number of angry comments on both the August apology and the latest developer interview, it doesn\u2019t seem like the fire is out yet.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Comparison image by GameMeca<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Comparison image by GameMeca<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, the dev team has established a new Quality Management department to prevent any issues related to in-game assets down the line. Given that some users are anxious about the crab hand being snuck into popular media as a form of propaganda, Shift Up\u2019s comment about \u201cnot tolerating anyone inserting hate speech\u201d into NIKKE is likely meant as a way to relieve such concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following backlash over an offensive hand gesture allegedly inserted into Goddess of Victory: Nikke, Shift Up has made a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":53480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-53477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-global-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nShift Up says it \u201cdoesn\u2019t tolerate any expressions of hate\u201d in NIKKE following backlash over alleged \u201csmall genital\u201d gesture\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Following backlash over an offensive hand gesture allegedly inserted into Goddess of Victory: Nikke, Shift Up has made a statement.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/shift-up-says-it-doesnt-tolerate-any-expressions-of-hate-in-nikke-following-backlash-over-alleged-small-genital-gesture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shift Up says it \u201cdoesn\u2019t tolerate any expressions of hate\u201d in NIKKE following backlash over alleged \u201csmall genital\u201d gesture\u00a0 - 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