'For Honor' news: Inappropriate animation replaced in-game

Screengrab from the Valkyrie trailer for "For Honor"YouTube/Ubisoft US

"For Honor" is keeping the tradition of living by its namesake, as the game's developers have recently replaced an animation which was deemed inappropriate.

Ubisoft, the developer and publisher of the "For Honor" has replaced an execution animation for the Valkyrie character in the game. An update which was introduced during Dec. 15 made sure that the finishing animation was no longer suggestive since it has caused an outrage from the player base.

The said animation consisted of a Valkyrie, a female Viking warrior in-game, impaling her opponent with a spear and pulling it back, dragging her opponent towards her which consequently cause the enemy to lose balance and reach for the nearest support. This led the opponent accidentally placing their hands on the chest area of the Valkyrie before realizing their mistake and shaking their head apologetically which angers the female warrior and causes her to knee the opponent in the genital area before finishing them off with a shield to the head.

The said execution for the Valkyrie was named "No Touching," and is actually sold as a microtransaction in-game that can be purchased with real-world money. Prior to the update, users have also noticed that the animation was unavailable for purchase despite being present in the selection. This led them to question the developers to which the latter responded that a new animation was to take place in lieu of the inappropriate one.

Now, the execution has been replaced with a minor tweak and shows the Valkyrie's opponent grabbing on to her shield instead of the chest area, while the animation name remains the same.

Still, some of the players raised their eyebrows over the gesture of the developers, claiming that they were being infantilized and noting the irony behind it. One player stated, "Killing an unarmed person while they kneel hopelessly while your character laughs and slits their throat? That's fine. Crushing someone's f*cking skull using nothing but bare hands while they scream? That's fine. Original No Touching execution? Oh no, that's just too far."

Some have claimed legal issues with the original animation, suggesting that while the game does have a Mature rating, its description does not involve Sexual Themes, which might be difficult for the developers to add the copies of the game. This, however, would not change who can play it since it's already rated for Mature players.

Ubisoft has then stated in defense that the original animation was simply a mistake in scheduled updates, hence why they considered it a "bug fix."