Sorcery: Sony Airs its Side against Racist Voice-acting Allegations
Sony’s upcoming PS3 exclusive fantasy title, Sorcery, got into a bit of controversy recently when a fan made known his disapproval of a traveling merchant character in the game. The fan said that the accent of the traveling merchant was Middle Eastern and he decried the “stereotypical” and “racist” voice-acting.
The fan let his feelings known at the comments section of the official playstation blog. No other than Sorcery’s creative director, Brian Upton, offered Sony’s response to the allegations. He said that it was “interesting” that the fan heard the accent as middle-eastern. In actuality, the voice actor behind the traveling merchant was employing a Russian accent. Apparently, the point was to make the merchant sound like he came from a faraway place, and that he has wandered all over the globe. Upton pointed out that it would be hard to give this “world traveler” effect if the character had spoken with a typical American English accent.
Upton went on to argue that while the game world of Sorcery is Earth-like, it is not Earth. He then repeated that the traveling merchant was from “some place Far Away.” Exactly where from is never identified. Because of this “far away” origin, he has an accent. Upton then went on to say that the traveler is just like the sylphs, elves, and other magical creatures of the game, and his livelihood is traveling back and forth and trading between different magical realms. Sorcery is slated to drop on May 22nd.
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