Hit JRPG Sea of Stars removes donation-collecting NPC based on YouTuber The Completionist following charity fraud allegations

The developer of retro JRPG-inspired indie hit Sea of Stars has announced it is replacing an NPC based on YouTuber The Completionist following recent charity fraud allegations. 

On December 15, Thierry Boulanger of Sabotage Studios shared with the game's Discord server that it would replace the NPC Jirard the Constructionist to "maintain a positive and optimistic space." This comes after it was alleged that YouTuber The Completionist, on whom Jirard is based, was involved in charity fraud. 

In the post, Boulanger writes: "A small patch will be going live on Steam and be submitted to consoles soon to replace the builder NPC in Mirth. We arrived at this decision after carefully monitoring events over the past few weeks, and while it is not our place to pass judgment, we do make it a priority to maintain a positive and optimistic space that reflects the spirit of our intentions, be they creative or otherwise."

The post continues: "As always, we appreciate your support and trust you to respect our decision while keeping the tone of the conversation in line with the essence of what makes our games and community what they are. Thank you." 

According to the Sea of Stars Wiki, in the aforementioned patch, Jirard has been replaced with a generic NPC called Bob, who does the same thing as the original character.  

For context, Jirard 'The Completionist' Khalil is known for his YouTube videos where he plays and reviews a variety of games to 100% completion. The Completionist is also known for his charity work, most notably his work with the Open Hand Foundation and the charity event IndieLand - which showcases indie games and highlights indie developers to raise money for the dementia research-focused charity. 

In November 2023, YouTubers Karl Jobst and SomeOrdinaryGamers both uploaded videos alleging that Khalil and his family were committing charity fraud with the donations gained from the IndieLand event. Following the allegations, Khalil uploaded a video to Twitter addressing the situation where he writes: "I want to assure you all that the funds we have raised together through IndieLand and The Open Hand Foundation are safe, accounted for, and have been donated."

Understandably, fans of Sea of Stars are now not happy with Khalil's involvement in the game and have openly discussed that they want the NPC to be removed from the JRPG - which developer Sabotage has now done. 

On a more positive note, Sea of Stars was one of our best games of 2023.