Tomb Raider remaster sparks fierce censorship debate

Tomb Raider
(Image credit: Aspyr)

Video game remasters might be all the rage right now, but they have a tough job, having to appeal to the nostalgia of the original games' fans, while offering enough of a visual upgrade to justify their own existence. From the GTA trilogy to Warcraft III, we've seen more misses than hits lately – and the latest remaster to draw fans' ire is the original Tomb Raider trilogy.

In a new update, it seems developer Aspyr has seen fit to quietly remove a bunch of pin-up posters of Lara Croft from the walls of one of the levels from Tomb Raider III. And while designs themselves might never have been in particularly good taste, their removal has led to a fierce debate about the ethics of retroactively erasing (read: censoring) aspects of an original game from its remaster. 

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

TOPICS
Daniel John
Design Editor

Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles.

Read more
An image from Last Half of Darkness remake
The Last Half of Darkness remake looks even scarier than the original
Acclaim Entertainment logo
Acclaim Entertainment's revival is peak 90s nostalgia – but it needs the games to back it up
Monolith Productions; Wonder Woman
Warner Bros. closing Monolith Productions is the end of an era – so what comes next?
Penguin Jane Austen Book covers
We need to talk about those controversial new Jane Austen book covers
Mario
This "awful" Super Mario remake actually brings a brilliantly low-fi new art style to the retro game
Activision Guitar Hero Mobile
It’s official, Activision has sold its soul to the AI overlords
Latest in Gaming
Detail of a young woman playing video games on a Nintendo Switch home console
Switch 2 is coming soon, Nintendo casually announces
Minecraft pixel paintings
Minecraft surprises fans with exciting anniversary pixel art
PS5 on an orange background
Gamers have begun declaring the PS5 a joke
Tomb Raider
Tomb Raider remaster sparks fierce censorship debate
Evercade EXP-R; a black handheld retro console
I'm confused by Evercade's new retro console (but I still want one)
Indie World Showcase
Nintendo announces next wave of games at Indie World Showcase
Latest in News
Sonic Adventure Redux
I'm not saying this Sonic Adventure Unreal Engine 5 remake is the best thing I've ever seen, but I'm not not saying it either
Screenshot from InZOI video game
Nvidia's AI characters are about to transform how we see video games
An image from Half-life 2 RTX demo
Nvidia to show off powerful video game remix capabilities in Half-life 2 RTX demo
iOS 19 concept
Apple's dramatic iPhone homescreen redesign is long overdue
iPhone 13 Pro
Apple tells iPhone users to urgently update iOS – your phone is vulnerable to attack
Trump stood in front of a red Tesla next to Elon Musk
Trump and Elon’s White House ad proves Tesla is getting desperate