Streamer meltdowns and mass refunds: Players boycott Starfield over pronouns controversy

Starfield's Early Access launch a couple of days ago has already seen a number of controversies, with the latest prompting players to mass refund the game and streamers having meltdowns, all because it allows them to choose their preferred pronouns during character selection. A clip of YouTuber HeelVsBabyface ranting about the customization option has gone viral, with Dr DisRespect also revealing that he was rejected by Bethesda for his past comments.

The rants have been met with a lot of backlash, and some have pointed out that giving more options to players in RPGs in terms of customization is a good thing. That said, many players seem to be refunding Starfield because it allows pronoun choice.

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"You take everything we love and shovel your dogsh*t ideology": YouTuber rants about Starfield having pronoun selection, players refund copies

For those wondering, Starfield allows players to select their preferred pronoun when starting a new character, which has ruffled many feathers. Many X (formerly Twitter) accounts have been calling out Bethesda for including it in the game. Meanwhile, people on the other side are making fun of those demanding refunds and boycotts.

Starfield pronouns controversy (Image via X)

YouTuber HeelVsBabyface had quite the meltdown about Starfield "going woke" while talking about gender pronouns on stream and the clip has since gone viral on social media, garnering a lot of attention. For context, a couple of users on X noted how the option to choose pronouns in the character creator did not sit right with certain gamers, who are now demanding refunds and talking about boycotting the game.

In the clip, HeelVsBabyface got increasingly agitated as he listed off his issues with Bethesda, saying:

"I love nothing more than to be dragged out at every f*cking conceivable opportunity so that you can f*cking current-day us. Sorry, you wanted to get immersed in our world? Guess what, f*cking pronouns! F*cking gender ambiguity! F*cking current-day Californian sh*t, because that's what we f*cking know because we are boring. We're so, f*cking, boring! We can't see past our own f*cking reflections, that's the level of our narcissim at the Bethesda Western Gaming Company."

The YouTuber described the inclusion of gender pronouns as "boring" and "dull" and also accused the game developers of robbing him and others like him of things they like:

"F*ck your immersion, f*ck you having a good time. F*ck you falling into a world and getting lost. No, no, no! Current f*cking day, f*ck off! You're boring, you're f*cking dull. You have nothing to say, you are a one-hived mind twatwaffle. That's all you f*cking are. And you wonder why people are getting f*cking sick and tired?"

He continued further to say:

"You take everything we love, all our immersions, all our fantasies, all our escapism and you just can't help shovel your dogsh*t f*cking crap ideology into everything. Every single solitary f*cking thing."

Dr DisRespect also announced in a post that he was passed up for the promotion phase of the game because of his controversial comments in the past.

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While Starfield has seen its fair share of praise, many streamers have expressed skepticism about the release, with popular Twitch creator Zack "Asmongold" even saying the game's first impressions weren't good.