Fans of the Game Grumps YouTube channel got a bizarre surprise when it came to the July 1 video. The duo, known for their mix of candid chatter and outbursts of rage, released a sponsored Let's Play of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2. While the video's general format stuck to the usual style, viewers found that the audio was heavily edited. Aside from cutting out swear words, any mention of other properties was covered up by construction noises and bird calls. This included Sonic the Hedgehog, Assassin's Creed, two movies, and even the game's own soundtrack.
A very strange aspect of the sponsorship deal is that it shows an understanding of Game Grumps' success. One of the most beloved Game Grumps series is their playthrough of Mario Maker levels desgined by friend and fellow content creator RubberRoss. These levels were created to be punishing beyond belief, and fans delight in seeing Grump Arin explode with rage until he loses all hope. In between these moments of extreme anger, fellow Grump Dan tries to calm Arin down with casual chat about life experiences or movies they've recently seen.
Seemingly knowing this, someone associated with Activision asked RubberRoss to make a difficult Tony Hawk's Pro Skater course for Arin to play on Game Grumps. Which makes it all the more baffling that the final video ended up being so heavily censored. Arin is known to curse heavily while playing Ross' levels, and yet all swearing is edited over. Dirty jokes, another Game Grumps staple, also get the axe. Later on, Dan compares some aspects of the gameplay to Assassin's Creed and the bottomless pits seen in Sonic Heroes. The names of both franchises are edited out.
One could perhaps chalk these up to Activision wanting to err on the side of family friendliness, as well as a desire to keep the focus on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2. However, the edits get even more agressive as the 29-minute video goes on. The mere mention of two movies are bleeped out, as is what sounds like a reference to the Jerry Springer show. Finally, the very soundtrack that Tony Hawk games are known for is cut out, and the music player on the bottom right was covered by an edited-in image. Although that move might have been more out of concern for YouTube's unfortunate DMCA policies.
Looking at the comments, many fans found the heavy-handedness of the edits tarnished the episode's quality. Some criticized what appears to be Activision going overboard in its terms for sponsorship, especially the parts where the Grumps couldn't even say movie titles. Commenters expressed confusion at how Activision could ignore what makes the Game Grumps the Game Grumps by asking them to edit out their adult humor.
Others wonder if the edits were an elaborate prank. At the end of the video, Dan starts telling very inappropriate jokes, to to the point that half of his sentences are bleeped out. Then a clearly photoshopped picture of the Game Grumps meeting Tony Hawk is displayed, with Hawk's face covered by the anti-DMCA image. This led fans to wonder if the Game Grumps were hit with the severe conditions of the deal after recording the video, and went to the extreme with edits as a form of protest. Whatever the case, it certainly makes for a truly unqiue Game Grumps episode.