"Unironically cultural appropriation" - Asmongold calls Insomniac Games "insane" for making Spanish "non-gender conforming" language in Spider-Man 2

On October 23, 2023, Twitch star Zack "Asmongold" shared his thoughts on Marvel's Spider-Man 2 developer Insomniac Games' decision to add inclusive Spanish to the title. The streamer came across a viral video featuring fellow content creator Rubén "Rubius," who muted the audio as he became annoyed after hearing the in-game podcast, The Danika Podcast, use inclusive Spanish.

Asmongold laughed after seeing Rubius turn off the in-game audio. He then elaborated on what he understood from the Twitch clip, stating:

"So basically, is this, like, a continuation of Western cultures appropriating the Spanish language and the Spanish culture to incorporate non-gender conforming language? Is this more of it? (The streamer glances at his Twitch chat) Yes. Okay."

The Texan went on to call the situation "outrageous, patronizing, and insane." He added:

"On behalf of all Americans that are not mentally ill, I would like to apologize to the Spanish community. We don't want this either. We think it's just ridiculous as you do. And, in fact, we're even more embarrassed because it's our people doing it. This is outrageous. It's patronizing. It's unironically cultural appropriation. It's insane!"

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"They are going into somebody else's space and changing it without their consent" - Asmongold comments on Spider-Man 2's Inclusive Spanish

Asmongold continued the conversation by explaining what he believed was the "worst part" of Spider-Man 2's inclusive Spanish. He remarked:

"I think the worst part about it is the fact that it is one of these things where... they're doing this to be more inclusive and understanding. But, they are going into somebody else's space and changing it without their consent. They're changing the language that they don't even speak, in often cases, because it disagrees with their worldview."

The One True King (OTK) co-founder praised Rubius' decision to mute in-game audio, saying:

"I think this is a massive Rubius W. Having your language changed by a developer that is not even from your f**king country - to change it in order to make it inclusive to Western values, this is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous! Yeah, it's the patronizing nature of it."

Timestamp: 03:21:50

Some viewers responded that having the option of using inclusive language was fine as long as it wasn't enabled by default.

Asmongold disagreed and said:

"'They want to put in the option in the game, it's fine. But don't have it as the default.' It's not fine! It's not the Spanish language. These are made-up words that people, that probably don't speak Spanish, have invented. It's not fine at all! It's outrageous that this is even a question! These people are inventing new words for a language in a culture they're not even a part of because it doesn't fit with their worldview!"

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Fans react to Asmongold's clip

The YouTube comments section was bustling with reactions, as more than 1,620 community members shared their thoughts. Here's a snapshot of some comments:

Fans chime in on the streamer's clip (Image via Asmongold Clips/YouTube)

Asmongold is one of the most popular Twitch streamers right now, having started broadcasting on the platform in 2016. He is best known for playing MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV, New World, and others.