Medal Of Honor

EA boss: MOH won’t submit to ‘Taliban’ outcry

Games president Frank Gibeau: If an Afghan War film can win BAFTAs, why is an Afghan game condemned?

 

Publishing empire EA says it will not surrender its creative vision to the furore surrounding the upcoming Medal of Honor game.

 

EA Games president Frank Gibeau told Develop the game is a “creative risk”. He said he anticipated controversy, and he asked why films are immune to the denigration games routinely are subjected to.

 

The publisher is under fire from both MPs and the wider media for allowing players to assume the role of the Islamist political group the Taliban in the rebooted Medal Of Honor title, set for UK release October 15.

 

On Sunday Defence Secretary Liam Fox urged retailers to ban EA’s upcoming game, having expressed “anger and disgust” by its content.

 

But Gibeau tells Develop that the game will not be altered at the behest of politicians and media groups.

 

“We respect the media’s views,” he said, “but at the same time [these reports] don’t compromise our creative vision and what we want to do.”

 

EA’s long-awaited Medal Of Honor reboot is being co-developed by Swedish Studio DICE and Los Angeles-based Danger Close, and Gibeau insists the two groups are proud of what they are creating.

 

“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. Brining Medal of Honor back was no small feat.”

 

Gibeau, nearly in his third year as EA Games president, was philosophical about the fast-spreading denigration of a game that handles sensitive content.

 

“There’s a lot of furore around games that take creative risks – like games that let you play terrorists in airports moving down civilians,” he said in reference to Modern Warfare 2 – published by industry rival Activision.

 

“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.

 

“What’s really important for us is that we partnered with the US military, and the Medal of Honor Society as well. We’ve gone out of our way to produce the best story for the game.

 

“The fact that it’s set in Afghanistan is the context, but the game is about you and your team going through a number of missions and feeling what it was like to be in a soldier’s position.

 

“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 British Government has distanced itself from comments made by defence secretary Liam Fox, which asked UK retailers not to stock EA’s Medal of Honor, calling the game – which is set in the ongoing Afghanistan conflict – “shocking”.

 

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport pushed the comments into the unofficial space this morning.

 

“Dr Fox was expressing a personal view and we understand why some people might find the subject matter of the game offensive,” said the department in a statement to GamesIndustry.

 

“Personal view”

 

Fox blasted the game last night, saying it shouldn’t be sold.

 

“It’s shocking that someone would think it acceptable to recreate the acts of the Taliban,” said the politician.

 

“At the hands of the Taliban, children have lost fathers and wives have lost husbands.

 

“I am disgusted and angry. It’s hard to believe any citizen of our country would wish to buy such a thoroughly un-British game. I would urge retailers to show their support for our armed forces and ban this tasteless product.”

 

The game allows you to play as the Taliban in multiplayer.

 

EA responded, speaking to the Sunday Times: “The format of the new Medal of Honor game merely reflects the fact that every conflict has two sides.

 

“We give gamers the opportunity to play both sides. Most of us have been doing this since we were seven: someone plays the cop, someone must be robber.

 

“In Medal of Honor multiplayer, someone’s got to be the Taliban.”

 

“Inaccuracies”

 

The publisher has further pushed back against the story this morning, claiming the Sunday Times’s report was incorrect in that British soldiers don’t feature in the game at all.

 

“Medal of Honor is an 18-rated highly authentic depiction of the soldier’s experience in Afghanistan – matching US forces against the Taliban in today’s war,” an EA spokesperson told VG247.




“Multiplayer combat is a long-standing, common and popular feature of video games. In multi-player, teams assume the identities of combatants on both sides of the conflict. Many popular videogames allow players to assume the identity of enemies including Nazis and terrorists. In the multi-player levels of Medal of Honor, teams will assume the identity of both US forces and the Taliban.

 

“The Sunday Times and other media stories on Medal of Honor contain inaccuracies. For one, Medal of Honor does not allow players to kill British soldiers. British troops do not feature in the game.”

 

“Clear choice”

 

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport added that systems were already in place to monitor games content in the UK.

 

“There is a ratings system in place which exists to categorise games appropriately, in this case the game in question is rated 18 so should only be sold to, and played by, adults.

 

“There is a clear choice for consumers which they can exercise when making decisions about purchasing videogames.”

 

“Daily sacrifices”

 

Initial signs from retail indicate that, very obviously, this entire affair will be tomorrow’s chip paper.

 

“ShopTo fully supports and commends the bravery of the British Soldiers fighting in all conflict areas, including Afghanistan and would never condone anything that disrespected the daily sacrifices they provide to the British people,” ShopTo PR and marketing manager Phil Driver told MCV.

 

“As a retailer ShopTo.net follows all official government policy regarding the sale of video games. In the case of of Medal of Honor no other government decision has been made other than its PEGI classification of 18, which we have on the game. Should a ban be introduced based on a government decision we will of course stop the selling the game.

 

“Whilst we are aware that Defence Secretary Fox has a grievance that we understand, we have received no other similar feedback from our customers. The Medal Of Honor series is exceptionally popular amongst gamers and as stated in a response by EA, which we agree with, has always had teams of opposing forces in its content.”

 

“Hard little fuckers”

 

Hank Keirsey, a US military advisor with 24 years experience, added his tuppence, saying the media was incorrectly linking the Taliban with al-Qaeda.

 

“Those are hard little fuckers,” Keirsey told Eurogamer of the Taliban.

 

“From a soldier perspective, I gotta admire certain qualities in those guys. They’re not fighting for Al-Qaeda. Maybe one or two of them is. Most of them are fighting ‘cos they’ve always fought.

 

“They’ve got what someone told them is a foreigner in town. They’re gonna come down from the mountains with their little AKs and rally with other guys and try to beat the foreigner out of there.

 

“You gotta get into your enemy’s mind set. There’s courage on both sides.

 

“[The media is] making a connection that these are the guys that cut the heads off of women and kids in the night, then the next thing they do is climb into an aeroplane and fly into our buildings. That’s not necessarily the case.”

 

Medal of Honor, BBFC 18 rating and all, ships for PC, 360 and PS3 on October 15.

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