Attacks on Kingdom Come: Deliverance for gay romance, representation ‘only mattered to a handful of terminally online culture warriors,’ reckons KCD2’s exec producer, and probably didn’t impact the games’ reception

by

The Kingdom Come series has consistently sparked debate. The first game received criticism for how it portrayed characters and the conflict between Czech heroes and their Cuman enemies. The sequel, however, drew criticism from a different side, featuring a same-sex romance and positive depictions of Romani, Jewish, and Muslim characters.

Warhorse Studios would prefer to move past the recent controversies surrounding their game. They expressed frustration last year with being caught up in cultural debates, stating their focus was simply on creating a great game. However, when speaking with co-founder and executive producer Martin Klíma about the potential for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 to win PC Gamer’s 2025 Game of the Year award, I had to ask: did these controversies ultimately affect the game’s sales, how it was received, or the team’s spirits?

Klíma admitted it was hard to say definitively. He expressed a strong desire to understand the situation, noting that there were convincing arguments on both sides. One perspective was that any publicity, even negative, is beneficial as long as it includes correct recognition. However, he also pointed out that any controversy can be damaging, diverting attention from the game itself and forcing explanations of complex issues.

Klíma believes the controversies surrounding Kingdom Come: Deliverance likely didn’t have a significant impact on the game’s success. He thinks the drama was mostly contained within a small group of very online individuals and that most players either didn’t notice or weren’t bothered by it.

According to Klíma, the developers were only slightly affected by the attacks, but they all agreed the criticism of both the first and second games was unfair and dishonest.

This situation brought the team closer together, creating a sense of us against the world. However, it didn’t really impact us that much. In fact, according to Klíma, many people at Warhorse are still largely unaware of the controversies. He believes you could find quite a few studio employees with only a vague understanding of what happened.

Read More

2026-01-09 16:47