Popular YouTube gamer and comedian Jon Jafari – better known as JonTron – has been under fire for the past week or so due to controversial statements he made during a live debate with popular YouTuber Destiny, prompting a wave of backlash from fans and more. Now, Playtonic Games has removed him as a voice actor from their upcoming 3D platformer Yooka-Laylee.
Originally slated to voice one of the game’s characters, Jafari was a noted fan of Banjo-Kazooie and even had a rapport with composer Grant Kirkhope, prompting the team to offer him the position. Following his recent inflammatory comments, however, Playtonic has removed him from the game entirely, giving the following statement:
“We recently became aware of comments made by voice artist JonTron after development on Yooka-Laylee had been completed. JonTron is a talented video presenter who we were initially, two years ago, happy to include as a voice contributor in our game. However, in light of his recent personal viewpoints we have made the decision to remove JonTron’s inclusion in the game via a forthcoming content update. We would like to make absolutely clear that we do not endorse or support JonTron’s personal viewpoints and that, as an external fan contributor, he does not represent Playtonic in any capacity. Playtonic is a studio that celebrates diversity in all forms and strives to make games that everyone can enjoy. As such, we deeply regret any implied association that could make players feel anything but 100% comfortable in our game worlds, or distract from the incredible goodwill and love shown by our fans and Kickstarter backers.”
Yooka-Laylee will release on April 11 for most platforms, and sometime this year for the Switch.
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Written by Amelia Fruzzetti
A writer and Nintendo fan based in Seattle, Washington. When not working for NinWire, she can be found eating pasta, writing stories, and wondering about when Mother 3 is finally going to get an official localization.
