Well there’s a headline I never expected to write. The developer behind the hit erotic puzzle game, Hunie Pop recently (NSFW Link coming up) updated the development blog for the game to rail against a negative review. In it, the developer explicitly blames social justice warriors (SJWs) for a negative review of the game. In fact, the first line is “In a stunning display of naivety, I sent the review build to a bleeding heart SJW who had no intention of giving an objective review. Probably twice.”

Hunie Pop, for the uninitiated, is an ESRB “Adults Only” game kickstarted for more than $53,000 back in November, 2013. Its core gameplay is very similar to Candy Crush or Bejeweled. There are icons, and you try to flip them to form chains of three or more to rack up points, etc. There are certain twists, like certain girls prefer certain elements, or certain broken heart icons give you penalties, and the whole game is tied into a dating sim/visual novel setting to really make the whole thing confusing. If you want the elevator pitch, though, it’s Candy Crush with tits, or as the developer puts it, “HuniePop is a fully featured dating sim blended with classic puzzle gameplay and enriched by deep RPG systems.”

Right, anyway, I’ve done some research on the game because I am super curious about what review set the developer off on this rant. The one I could see was from Technology Tell and the review is titled ‘HuniePop Review: Not safe for work, or anything else‘. Give the review a read, but some highlights include “The projection in HuniePop’s (really bad, but who’s surprised?) writing is so thick you can cut it with a disapproving grimace,” and “You can also go out on a date which takes you to HuniePop‘s pretend gimmick (I mean seriously, there’s porn): the “puzzle stuff,” as HuniePop‘s Kickstarter pitch so eloquently puts it.”

The review absolutely pans the game, giving it an “F” and concluding that it’s a “bland puzzle game that pretends to have depth, a dating sim you can’t lose that glorifies loserdom to an uncomfortable level and lame porn. Why bother?” Among the charges brought against HuniePop‘s gameplay, the reviewer Lucas White also calls the game racist because “there’s a Hispanic girl and you buy her cliche Mexican paraphernalia like maracas as gifts.” I mean… yeah, that actually does seem kind of racist. Do you take her out for chalupas and chorros as well? And seriously, what kind of girl goes “Oh yay, maracas!”? Actually, from what I can tell in this video, her response is “Get the fuck outta town! Really?” though I think most girls would say something similar just with a very different inflection.

This review fit perfectly into the developer’s victim narrative. “I’ve stated before that there is no chance the mainstream games media is going to give HuniePop a fair shake. It’s going to be attacked relentlessly because it does not conform to the politically correct narrative and cultural standards set forth by these people. I’ve somewhat jokingly said in the past that the game is basically an SJW’s worst nightmare.”

Obviously, if a game has a negative review, it’s because of a grand conspiracy against it. Who possibly couldn’t like the amazing writing featured in the video above? There’s no way an erotic puzzle game like HuniePop could have received a bad score because it’s been poorly created, or that it valiantly flaunts ESRB and Steam standards by freely making available a developer-created patch that removes the censorship from the game’s images (anyone remember the Hot Coffee mod for San Andreas and the controversy there?). [Update: Apparently I was wrong. According to this tweet, Steam’s totally okay with it. My bad.]

Look I get it. The HuniePop developer is pretty indie, so seeing a review that overwhelmingly negative probably took a toll, but here’s the thing: The appropriate response is not to write a blog post blaming social justice warriors.” A reviewer didn’t like the game or didn’t get it, whatever. Move on. That’s the nature of putting out anything even remotely creative. If people don’t like what you write, it isn’t some “politically correct” conspiracy of society. Don’t be so damn immature. Learn from criticism, and opt for the self-awareness route. When a game developer blames sjws for a bad review, it just comes across as intellectually dishonest, and inherently silly. You released a porn game on Steam: a platform that’s pretty open about not being for porn games. What were you expecting?