To be honest his original post was asking why this has been brought back to light 2 days before release. Most of the answers have been that this is worth discussing and "how dare you want to stop this conversation!" I'm still waiting for a reasonable answer to his question as well. Why OP brought this just before release? Why not during E3? Why not when Yooka-Laylee was released? I'm not saying that his views (JonTron) are right, but neoGAF is well known in this stance and knowing this it seems like OP wants to sabotage this game release.
We all want to live in a perfect world, hand holds and sing kumbayah, but gosh this is not how it works. They are releasing a game and are dealing with everything that happens at this time. I'm sorry to say it, but they need to focus on the game right now. The biggest proof that they care would be to release a functional and fun game, if they diverge time and people to deal with JonTron now that may affect the game launch quality and reviews. Again, what JonTron said is gross, I'm not protecting him. I'm saying that there is a time and a place for everything. Sadly the internet made people lose track of this and so they want everything right here and right now. Patience people, I'm sure the devs will speak about this AFTER the game is released.
If you still want an answer or a resolution right now I can't help but feel sorry for you, hope life treats you gently.
Not to pick on you in particular, but I particularly always disliked the "not the right time" argument. I forgot to mention that in my big ass post in the last page, but I'll talk about it here since idk how many people want to read my wall of text lol.
Anyways, I fail to see why timing should have any affect on when dialogue should be started. In fact, since this is a niche indie game, I think the timing makes perfect sense: right before release is probably the most attention this game will ever get, so many more people will learn of Jontron's voice work in this game than any other time.
Assuming these arguments come from a good place, I can see that they seem to come with some sympathy in mind. Game development is hard, and being a small team dealing with a huge controversy right before release sounds like a nightmare!
However, I don't see how feeling bad for the devs and thinking they are doing a poor job of the situation have to be mutually exclusive. I mentioned in my last post a potential justification for small devs to stay silent (to avoid harassment), but I just noticed that there appears to be a Hat in Time twitter. Assuming it isn't heavily associated with real people on the team, I don't see why they can't use that account as a platform to address the situation.
I understand that game dev can be tough. It's possible that they can't afford to rerecord the voice work, or that maybe removing it without replacing it would break the game or something. Whatever the reason they can't (or won't) remove the voicework, just ignoring it is going to cause the problem to blow up even bigger. If the devs care about this, they should at least issue a statement. Even something as simple as "We care about diviersity in video gaming, and do not endore Jontron's bigoted statements" would be a huge improvement over the nothing we have right now!
To jump to a more real life reason I'm not a fan of this argument, let me use a great quote from Martin Luther King about the "moderate whites"
"First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;" who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season."
Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection."
source:
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/060.html
I know that going from video game talk to civil rights quotes may seem a tad extreme (though considering what Jontron said, I think it makes sense!), this quote encapsulates my biggest problem with "not the right time argument": the statement is a self-fulfilling prophecy that needlessly stifles dialogue (or worse in Dr King's case: important progress!). While it takes time for things in society to turn for the better (and as an American, progress feels like a puddle in a desert currently, sadly), simply saying "now isn't the right time, let's wait till later" is a defeatist attitude. I don't think it matters if this discussion didn't get heated earlier or not, simply "waiting" for it to become "safer" to talk about accomplishes nothing but putting an elephant under a rug.
(Also, a bit off topic, but something that just sorta randomly came to mind: if the voice work being removed is a problem, well they did mention mods right? Maybe they could hold some kind of contest on twitter to decide who gets to replace Jontron's lines, and offer download files for it? Addressing the problem and asking the community for help might be neat, idk)