The Last of Us 2 voice actor Troy Baker has hit out at critics, unfavorably comparing them to the creators behind the video games using a speech from Theodore Roosevelt.
Baker, who portrayed Joel in Naughty Dog‘s recently released sequel, responded to a relatively innocuous tweet from journalist Jason Schreier that noted video games were “too long.” The voice actor replied by quoting Roosevelt’s ‘The Man in the Arena.’
Bloomberg reporter Schreier didn’t explicitly reference The Last of Us 2 with his tweet, but given the criticisms of the game’s length, Baker seemingly assumed it was aimed at the PS4 exclusive. As such, he replied with Roosevelt’s ‘The Man in the Arena,’ which begins with: “It is not the critic who counts.”
The quote compares critics to “the man who is actually in the arena,” which in this context suggests Baker is comparing critics of TLoU2 with those who worked on the game.
I’ll just leave this here… https://t.co/7yj0XpeOE7 pic.twitter.com/nWYWYSmmhC
— Troy Baker (@TroyBakerVA) June 28, 2020
Baker’s response was promptly criticized, with users pointing out how The Last of Us 2‘s sales numbers were still huge regardless of some of the criticisms it has received.
“TLoU2 sold buckets. Most people like it–you have no reason to be this insecure,” replied Twitch streamer Joseph Anderson. “This is embarrassing to the medium. He didn’t even mention your game! Such an inappropriate response. I can’t believe it.”
Others pointed out how this isn’t the first time Baker has lashed out at critics of his projects. Back in 2016, he encouraged followers to sign a petition to remove Washington Post’s negative review of Uncharted 4 from Metacritic. The petition told the Washington Post to “treat the game with professionalism and respect,” concluding: “A review is not about what you think a game is, its about what a game is. Objective measures are applied.”
Regardless of Troy Baker’s thoughts on critics doing their jobs, The Last of Us 2 received high praise from the majority of its reviewers, making his response particularly questionable. The game currently holds a Metascore of 94, with many praising it as one of the PS4’s best exclusives thus far.
