The inclusion of the Taliban in the upcoming Medal of Honor has drawn criticism from some quarters. EA Games president Frank Gibeau indicates, however, that the company won’t bow to outside pressure on the issue.
“We respect the media s views, but at the same time [these reports] don’t compromise our creative vision and what we want to do. There’s a lot of furore around games that take creative risks like games that let you play terrorists in airports mowing down civilians,” said Gibeau, referring to Modern Warfare 2. “At EA we passionately believe games are an artform, and I don t know why films and books set in Afghanistan don t get flack, yet [games] do. Whether it s Red Badge Of Courage or The Hurt Locker, the media of its time can be a platform for the people who wish to tell their stories. Games are becoming that platform.”
“Games have been set in Afghanistan before. We anticipated this [controversy] when we decided on the concept of the game this is about being a special forces solider,” he added. “What’s really important for us is that we partnered with the U.S. military, and the Medal of Honor Society as well. We’ve gone out of our way to produce the best story for the game. That s always been a Medal of Honor concept we put you in the boots of a solider, whether it’s in the Pacific, Europe, Afghanistan; it s always been the story of the solider.”
The Medal Of Honor reboot is being co-developed by Swedish Studio DICE and Los Angeles-based Danger Close. Gibeau says the two groups are enthusiastic about the project and very proud of what they are creating, despite the flak. “The development teams care very much about what they re building, and of course a bit of criticism from the media causes some to get demoralised, but at the end of the day we’re proud of what we re doing. Bringing Medal of Honor back was no small feat.”
Source: Develop
