10 Most Controversial Video Game Marketing Campaigns Of All Time

5. Dead Island: Riptide's Mutilated Collector's Edition Bust

Dead Island
Deep Silver

Back when extravagant collector's editions were all the rage, the publisher of Dead Island: Riptide, Deep Silver, attempted to add their own gory spin on the practice, bundling the game with a mutilated bust of a nameless female zombie victim.

Needless to say, the announcement of the special version of Dead Island didn't really play well in the media, especially at a time when the industry was already under fire for its lacklustre depiction of female characters.

By selling a brutal bust of a headless and armless scantily-clad female, the devs of Riptide immediately drew the ire from high-profile names inside the industry as well as wider commentators who pointed out that the collector's edition was probably in bad taste.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.