Such a dumb move. This won't help sales, but it certainly will hurt them (though, to be fair, probably not much). Sex sells. And the people who are offended by this wouldn't have bought the game in the first place.
I'm just so annoyed by this recent resurgence of Puritan-esque prudishness. Humans are sexual beings! We shouldn't be ashamed of or offended by sexuality; we should embrace it! And if people are worried about unequal representation, the solution is simple: put sexy men in the game, too, and maybe an option for players to toggle either. Everybody wins.
Yeah, I think the people arguing for this don't understand the full context. You get extra points for taking the equivalent of upskirt photos of women who are being attacked by or in fear of being attacked by zombies. It's textbook exploitation.
I can't immediately think of a context where it would be better, but... it isn't this.
I don't know the game well - never played its original release and I likely won't play this remake - but from what I understand, the women in question are zombies, so consent isn't really a factor.
If anything, removing this feature slightly reduces immersion and significantly changes the main character's personality. I can understand why someone who was a fan of the original would be hesitant to get the remake, since the main character is a different person, morally speaking.
It's like Star Wars - Han shot first, and changing that doesn't change the story in any real way, but it significantly changes Han's character.