Gaming | Culture

Star Wars Outlaws: Kay Vess Isn’t Ugly

The real reason the internet hates her

Ubisoft’s next open-world Star Wars game stars Kay Vess, an outlaw with a crew of friends out to pull off heists in a galaxy far, far away. Star Wars Outlaws will take place canonically between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and has every sign of a huge blockbuster title looking to hit the same heights of games like Grand Theft Auto and Uncharted. But the internet isn’t talking about that. Of course, they are worried about the wrong things.

The player character, Kay Vess, is voiced and portrayed by Venezuelan-born actress Humberly Gonzalez. And, unlike with Electronic Arts Jedi series, which stars Cameron Monaghan in the lead role as Jedi Cal Kestis, it appears that Ubisoft wasn’t aiming for a complete one-to-one recreation of Gonzalez’s likeness with Kay Vess. Even though the character shares similarities with Gonzalez, it is pretty clear that this is a different person. And for some reason, the internet is saying that she’s ugly.

It’s probably no mere coincidence that this backlash is happening at the precise moment that internet people have erupted over the idea of western game developers moving away from hyper-sexualized female depictions in games. Look no further than Sony Interactive Entertainment’s very popular Stellar Blade, with its over-the-booty camera angle and its tight and revealing wet suits as their newest standard-bearer of idealized female…