Mobile game Love and Deepspace was recently the subject of some controversy, as IGN surfaced persistent concerns from players about the lack of decent lighting for player characters with dark skin tones. As noted, these player models became nearly invisible in low light, highlighting a seeming lack of robust testing for all player customisations.
In the resulting fallout, one developer – Elizabeth Zelle, developer of Saints Row – took the opportunity to discuss the testing performed at former employer, Volition. This team went to great lengths to ensure all custom player characters were well-lit, with a particularly quirky NPC standing in to ensure all skin tones looked right in the game.
That NPC was the infamous Skinballs.
Saints Row‘s Skinballs – quick links
Who is Saints Row‘s Skinballs?
While the name sounds fairly suspect, Skinballs is exactly what it sounds like: a cluster of balls resembling various skin tones. The NPC was placed in various settings during the testing of Saints Row: The Third to ensure all players were well-lit, under a variety of circumstances.
Skinballs is a bizarre sight, and so, on reveal, the NPC has gone viral for a second time, doing the rounds of social media, accompanied by revered gasps and appreciation. ‘Skinballs,’ the people whisper. ‘SKINBALLS.‘
As noted, Skinballs is a popular hero amongst the Saints Row fan community. It was first revealed many years ago by modders playing around with the files of Saints Row: The Third, who discovered it within debug menus. Since then, Skinballs has become an icon, with modders making it playable in various Saints Row games, and essentially turning it into a meme of sorts.
While briefly, the legend faded into the background, this eventually allowed the creature to resurface – and for it to regain a modern notoriety on social media.
In a funny turn of events, Zelle’s reminder has also surfaced another tidbit: that Skinballs is thankfully preserved at the The Strong National Museum of Play, as this institution received a significant donation of Volition game development material in early 2025.
Skinballs is an important reminder and a lesson to test video game lighting
Beyond being a very absurd way to test video game lighting, Skinballs is a reminder of how developers can easily and simply test skin tone in games, to ensure all models are well-lit.
Love and Deepspace has faced significant criticism over the last two years for issues with its lighting, which largely impact players with dark-skinned custom characters. Despite this feedback, developers have not yet addressed the issue.
Since IGN‘s article, and the subsequent discourse around Skinballs has gone viral, Infold Games has released a statement confirming it’s ‘seen the conversations’, although a fix has not been outright promised as yet.
For now, those keen to see lighting adjusted in the game will just have to stay tuned to see whether changes will finally be implemented.
Also on ScreenHub: Subnautica 2 doesn’t use GenAI, despite Krafton’s ‘AI-first’ push, devs say
Subnautica 2 developer Unknown Worlds has confirmed it won’t use generative AI to continue development of this game, despite its publisher, Krafton, announcing a recent transformation into an ‘AI-first’ company.
‘Starting today, Krafton will automate work centred on Agentic AI and fully implement an AI-centred management system where members focus on creative activities and complex problem solving,’ Krafton announced in early October, to plenty of criticism.
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