Super Seducer, a controversial game about picking up women, is being pulled from the PlayStation 4 in a last-minute change. Or rather, the game just wasn’t put up on March 6th on the PlayStation Store as planned. The game was made available on Steam as per schedule, but PlayStation seems to be backing out from releasing the game on its platform. The product of “renowned seduction guru” Richard La Ruina, Super Seducer has drawn a lot of criticism from pro-women and anti-harassment groups that seems to have led to PlayStation wanting nothing to do with the game.
La Ruina is a dating coach that operates in tactics associated with pick up culture. As such, his strategies cater solely to heterosexual men who want to approach women. Super Seducer is meant to be an extension of his teachings in video game form, casting players in the role of a man who tries to approach various women in public places. A live-action La Ruina hosts the game from a random hotel room, flanked at all times by two women in their underwear.
The game plays out like choose-your-own-adventure game, with right and wrong dialogue choices praised and corrected by La Ruina. From his hotel room, he explains the ins-and-outs of his teachings, but as Polygon reports, his advice is hard to take seriously. The underwear-clad women at his side never add their perspectives to the conversation, and instead simply lie there like reminders of what you could have if you played the game correctly. They even disappear if the player makes a wrong move. For a game that is based around communicating with women, the women involved don’t seem to have a say.
After websites like Polygon and Hollaback! gave their harsh opinions on the game, PlayStation seemed to get cold feet about releasing it. Finally, as Motherboard reports, PlayStation officially made the decision to not release Super Seducer at all. It is still up for sale on Steam (already discounted at $9.87) with comments on its page being as fiery and mixed as one might imagine.
There is an exciting future out there for gaming. Finally, companies and individuals are learning that video games can be a fantastic learning tool and way to share experiences. Unfortunately, the road to truly wielding the medium for good is a bumpy one. Hopefully this is just another bump gamers can put behind them on the road to greatness.