Crisis Core – Final Fantasy 7 Reunion is by all accounts a stunning remaster. Reviews have called it a ‘worthy companion’ to the Final Fantasy VII story, and a ‘significant upgrade’ on the original. But while each corner of its world shines, there is one spot where Crisis Core appears to have failed. As spotted by Kotaku, the Shinra mansion location in the game features a major mistake: a painting that appears to have been ripped from Getty Image, potentially without the license fee being paid.
In several corners of this chateau, you can spot a real-world painting – John Crowther’s Ludgate Circus, London, 1881 – that has been stretched out and recoloured to fit into a gilded frame. In the centre of the image, a blurry Getty Images logo can be clearly seen.
This placeholder is typically attached to unlicensed samples of images in an effort to discourage free use and encourage users to buy the ‘real’ version.
It appears that developers at Square Enix may have skipped this step, ripping Crowther’s work from the internet with the Getty logo still attached. Now that it’s been spotted, it’s likely to be corrected – but as of writing, it does appear to remain in the game.
Read: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion review roundup
Kotaku reported spotting the artwork at least three times in the mansion, with the texture repeating on a range of frames. Each sports the same watermark, identifying the images as belonging to Getty.
As noted by many commenters, this isn’t the first Square Enix game to have trouble with licensing. Kingdom Hearts 3 launched with a watermarked cutscene that included the logo for ‘Arnold’, a rendering middleware used alongside the animation software, Maya. As in the latest case, the logo only appears when licensing fees have not been paid.
Expect the Crisis Core watermark to be on the way out shortly, likely to be replaced by an official image or an alternative scene. The image itself does not relate to the plot of the game, so at the very least, finding another option won’t be a major issue. Still, it is a fairly funny inclusion and well worth a look while you’re able.
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is available on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One.
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