"We believe that ultimately, in the future, players should be able to go in the game world,” Francois said, “have as many different experiences as they want, experience as many different political views as they want, as many religions as they want. Each game is inherently political in its premise, yet Ubisoft avoids grappling directly with those implications time and time again.Ī June 2019 interview with Ubisoft's former VP of Editorial Tommy Francois (for what it’s worth, Ubisoft fired him in 2020 following sexual harassment allegations) hints at the reasons behind Ubisoft’s muddled political messaging: It happened with Watch Dogs Legion, Tom Clancy's The Division 2, Far Cry New Dawn, Far Cry 5, and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Why it matters - This isn't the first time Ubisoft has ruffled feathers by claiming its games inspired by contemporary events were “not political.” Soon after, Ubisoft backtracked in a blog post written by Khavari, saying that the story was technically political by tackling issues like fascism and imperialism while maintaining that players “won’t find” a direct “political statement” about Cuba in it. The interview was met with backlash by those baffled by the notion that a game inspired by real-life guerilla fighters wasn’t making a political statement. For us, it felt like doing the island of Yara would help us tell that story while being very open with our politics and inspiration." "Beyond that, we're drawing inspiration from guerilla movements around the world and throughout history.
"We realized it's a complicated island and our game doesn't want to make a political statement about what's happening in Cuba specifically," Khavari said.
Still, in an interview with The Gamer, Narrative Director Navid Khavari insisted Far Cry 6 wasn't making a political statement about Cuba. (Ubisoft even spoke with guerilla fighters as part of its research.) Cuba's well-documented history of political unrest inspires the game. You play as a guerilla fighter on the fictional tropical island of Yara trying to take down Giancarlo Esposito's dictator, Anton Castillo. What happened? On May 28, Ubisoft showed off Far Cry 6 gameplay for the first time. I'll talk to experts, offer my own analysis, and solicit you, the people I'm writing for, to sound off with your ideas. Each week or so I'll explore a problem in gaming and how it could be solved. I'm Tomas Franzese, and this is The Hotfix, a column about ideas that could improve video games and the culture around them.
FAR CRY 1 STORYLINE FREE
Ubisoft needs to break free of this mindset so its stories are less superficial like Watch Dogs Legion ’s or avoid stories in politically charged settings altogether. What are your favorite games and platforms of 2021, and what future releases are you most excited about? Take our poll! As a result, it actively limits the potential of the stories and worlds of its games. Ubisoft seems to think that political messaging limits player agency, storytelling, sales potential, or all of the above. This leads to titles with muddled stories where the veneer of political commentary feels like little more than window dressing.įar Cry 6is the latest game to prompt such an outcry, and it exposes why Ubisoft’s approach needs to change.
The video game developer and publisher has a habit of setting games in politically charged settings but shied away from saying that any of them made bold political statements. Ubisoft needs to stop holding its storytellers back.