There are few jobs more prone to controversy than being a social media influencer, particularly one that puts their face to the camera on a day-to-day basis like a YouTuber. Sadly this is something that Sabotage Studios, the developers behind the critically acclaimed, and recent winner of The Game Awards’ “Best Independent Game” award, Sea of Stars learned a bit too late concerning the cameo appearance of YouTuber The Completionist in their game.

Sea of Stars Developers to Release Patch That Removes The Completionist From Game https://t.co/hAYH1X0ZrV pic.twitter.com/2cPV5T0sdh

— Noisy Pixel (@NoisyPixelNews) December 16, 2023

For those unaware, Jirard The Completionist was recently accused of committing charity fraud, though he has not yet been formally charged. As of writing these accusations are unsubstantiated and no formal proceedings have taken place against him, and Jirard himself has taken to Twitter to create a long, 20-minute video in his own defense, and several other YouTubers have created videos against him, it’s a massive debacle that has taken the YouTube drama scene by storm, if you’re interested in taking a deeper dive in this drama the videos below can add some surface level context for either side.

Hey everyone. I know you all have had questions. I want to assure you all that the funds we have raised together through IndieLand and The Open Hand Foundation are safe, accounted for, and have been donated. $600k went to a leading charity that specializes in FTD, and was… pic.twitter.com/GQjhptwxsA

— Jirard The Completionist (@Completionist) December 9, 2023

But still, it seems that Sabotage Studios have seen fit to just axe his cameo from the game completely and avoid any further controversy including him altogether as expressed by Sea of Stars director Thierry Boulanger on Discord:

We arrived at this decision after carefully monitoring events over the past few weeks, and while it is not our place to pass judgement, we do make it a priority to maintain a positive and optimistic space that reflects the spirit of our intentions, be they creative or otherwise.

I didn’t think this thing with Jirard would get The Completionist cameo PATCHED OUT of Sea of Stars.

Wild. Holy hell. pic.twitter.com/vwCkr6Z5Ao

— Solace and Dread (@SolaceAndDread) December 16, 2023

It is truly unfortunate that such a wholesome game will inevitably have memes made at its expense for this cameo, but such is the risk of content creator cameos. It’s been a trend of video games to have such cameos in their games both for wider appeal and probably as thanks to said creators for participating in the news cycle or even greatly contributing to the games. Creators like Alanah Pearce in Cyberpunk 2077, Markiplier in Subnautica, MatPat from Game Theory even made an appearance in the Five Nights at Freddie’s movie. But like any collaboration with such public figures, they bring an inherent risk of future controversies reflecting poorly on your product, and bring the question of whether or not risking featuring such talents is worth the hassle they may cost you in the future, as this situation with The Completionist is far from the first e-celebrity cameo in a video game that has become a bit sour in hindsight.

In any case, Sea of Stars is a fantastic game, well deserving of its Best Independent Game award and its legacy will be far greater than this controversy. The game is available now for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, the Nintendo Switch, as well as on PC through Steam.