10 DUMBEST Video Game Controversies That Went Too Far

You probably suspected that this would be number one, and rightfully so: Puddlegate is in contention for the dumbest video game controversy of all time.

For those unaware, the short version is that a certain crowd of gamers bashed Marvel's Spider-Man for a so-called "visual downgrade", pointing out that a puddle of water seen in the E3 2017 gameplay demo had vanished in the game's release build.

This quickly became known as "Puddlegate", and it caused quite a stir.

Despite a single puddle not having any tangible impact on the overall experience, some people were genuinely critical of the game for supposedly reducing its visual fidelity. Developer Insomniac even started responding to angry fans on Twitter, while us rational-minded folk sighed, groaned, and rolled our eyes copiously.

This tweet shows all the puddles in another area... obv we can still handle them. And it also shows how the suit reacts different to darker lighting https://t.co/nLKgc1DBjR

— Insomniac Games (@insomniacgames) August 26, 2018

Tech wizards Digital Foundry eventually came out and debunked Puddlegate, explaining that the game's visuals had actually been upgraded from pre-release builds. But the best response to the controversy came from Insomniac itself, who soon decided to add puddle stickers to Spider-Man's in-game photo mode.

Well played Insomniac. Well played.