Resident Evil 5 "Misunderstood"

Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi says Capcom has made no concessions to the original vision of his game, despite accusations of racism.

When the trailer for RE5 debuted last year, numerous onlookers took offense to its depiction of race. Set in Africa, the spot showed the white Chris Redfield blowing away black villagers, who (presumeably) had been infected with a zombifying virus of some sort.

Criticisms of the trailer's representations of Africans came from people of varying ethnic backgrounds across the Internet.

Asked by Kotaku if those criticisms affected the design decisions of RE5, Takeuchi said, "No, not really."

Since that original trailer, Capcom has released new footage for the game depicting a non-Caucasian, ethnically ambiguous female partner. Takeuchi said that the diversity wasn't a reaction to critics, and the character has been in development "pretty much since the beginning."

He continued, "In terms of the reaction, we're in the business of entertainment. We didn't set out to make a racist game or a political statement. We did feel there was a misunderstanding about the initial trailer."

Courtesy of Next Generation.

Jun 4, 2008