Division 2 team says game won’t make political statements, despite marketing that implies otherwise. Isn’t that weak?

[BAD]

Polygon talked to a team leader and he basically confirmed the marketing is like Far Cry 5 or Wolfenstein II, implicitly political, but the game isn't willing to make political statements just like Far Cry 5 also failed to do in the end. I hold out hope he's wrong and the game is anti-nazi and against children having been caged in recent history but here's the article anyway...
https://www.polygon.com/e3/2018/6/12/17451688/the-division-2-is-not-making-any-political-statements

In many of its military-themed games, developer Ubisoft has made a point to pull storylines from potential real-world events. Recently, with Far Cry 5, it went a step further by poking at modern day domestic tensions, both social and political, over gun culture and religious extremism. But, ultimately, that game refused to take a side. It prodded audiences with controversy, but was ultimately toothless.

The marketing effort for Tom Clancy's The Division 2 has spooled up, and Ubisoft is using the same kind of topical imagery and poignant rhetoric once again. Set in the near future, the game asks players to fight back against a corrupt government and help save the United States from tyrants.

Meanwhile, in the real world, some Americans are concerned that the current administration is becoming tyrannical in its own right. Some would say that the land of the free may even be drifting toward fascism. These were the thoughts on my mind when I sat down with Terry Spier, creative director for North Carolina-based Red Storm Entertainment which, along with Massive Entertainment, is helping bring The Division 2 to life.

The trailers and the gameplay reveals have, so far, told me that this is a game about a near-future Civil War. But it's not a game about politics, Spier insisted. It's a game about saving lives and bringing society back from the brink of destruction.

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Wait a minute. It's in DC.

Yes.

Your central character here on the key art has an American flag bandana tied to their backpack.

That's correct.

This is not a political statement?

Absolutely not.

Taking up arms against a corrupt government is not a political statement?

No. It's not a political statement. No, we are absolutely here to explore a new city.

You have this grin on your face.

I can absolutely understand the question, the assumption, and the nature of it, but I'm here to tell you that DC, the reason that we chose it was for the ones that I said.

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And this tweet adds interesting context to the Polygon take:

I'm guessing you saw the article because of this recent tweet?

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[Deleted member 249]

I never bought into the "won't be political" bullshit. Art is by definition political, and The Division 2 is charged with political rhetoric.

 

[benzopil]

how dumb should a journalist be if he's asking about political statements in a Tom Clancy game

 

[Imran]

It was weak from the beginning, it gets weaker all the time.

 

[Deleted member 10629]

Like Complicated said in the Mexico thread, they're trying to have their cake and eat it too. They want to have a political game but don't want to piss off the people on the recieveing end of the criticism. So yeah, it is weak.

 

[Dojima]

Yeah this is bollocks. They say that because they know gamers don't give a shit about politics so that's how they get their attention

 

[Odesu]

You forgot to link the Polygon article and isn't this a year-old article? Im 99% sure we already talked about this specific interview at length and there were even articles written in response to it.

EDIT:

Yeah, here it is. From June 2018. Weird to frame it like a new interview.

Anyway, it's obviously bollosks. There is an audio clip of the US president, calling the Mexican president to ask him to please not close the borders for all the US refugees for god's sake. It's not even subtle: https://kotaku.com/video/3634645?utm_medium=sharefromsite&utm_source=Kotaku

 

[Massicot]

Ubisoft seems to basically be superficially indulging in the political zeitgeist in the name of trendy marketing, but doesn't want to take a stance strong enough to alienate any potential customer.

Bethesda/MachineGames were 'able' to go a bit further than that, thinking that "Nazis are bad" would be universally accepted, but even they got a surprisingly high amount of pushback for something that safe.

 

[BAD]

how dumb should a journalist be if he's asking about political statements in a Tom Clancy game

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The game marketing is quite political. It's not the journalist who brought it up. Really, the game's marketing started the conversation.

 

[BAD]

You forgot to link the Polygon article and isn't this a year-old article? Im 99% sure we already talked about this specific interview at length and there were even articles written in response to it.

EDIT:

Yeah, here it is. From June 2018.

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i just saw it brought up, and wanted to discuss it in light of the marketing. I apologize if this conversation is redundant. If you find the original thread let me know.

 

[ChippyTurtle]

I took it as the director not wanting to spoil the story tbh.

 

[Quample]

Why is it weak to make implicit political statements in a game? Do the developers have to openly state that the game is a direct result of Trump's presidency or something? Lol.

Fiction doesn't work like that, and it's better that way.

 

[Cenauru]

Except the marketing has been extremely political. I wonder if their claims of it not being political is just them trolling the shit out of the people getting mad at the marketing. I hope...

 

[Odesu]

i just saw it brought up, and wanted to discuss it in light of the marketing. I apologize if this conversation is redundant. If you find the original thread let me know.

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I'm guessing you saw the article because of this recent tweet?



You should definitely embedd that tweet because I had no idea what marketing you were talking about, making the thread really confusing without being able to understand why you post a 10 month old interview without saying so^^

 

[thisismadness]

Could be one of those situations where marketing is acting on its own. That dev interviewed by Polygon probably has nothing to do with the way the game is marketed.

 

[Deleted member 16876]

I am not sure why they are saying that.

Far Cry 5 made fun of Alex Jones and Trump+his supporters so I am not sure why they say it isn't political. Maybe it is not the focus but it certainly does include tons of political stuff.

 

[BAD]

I'm guessing you saw the article because of this recent tweet?



You should definitely embedd that tweet because I had no idea what marketing you were talking about, making the thread really confusing without being able to understand why you post a 10 month old interview without saying so^^

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Actually did not see the tweet itself until after the interview. Just was in a Discord, but I appreciate you finding that.

 

[Joni]

Marketing don't care what those developers are doing.

 

[fargodog]

The political statement is the game. I've no idea why they don't just say "We want the game to be our expression, and players to engage with its political themes in that manner."

Possibly because the political overtones of the first game were god damn horrendous.

 

[Deleted member 8593]

The Division 2 isn't political, it's just politically charged.

 

[Dphex]

I am not sure why they are saying that.

Far Cry 5 made fun of Alex Jones and Trump+his supporters so I am not sure why they say it isn't political. Maybe it is not the focus but it certainly does include tons of political stuff.

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because they want to sell the games to as many people as possible, regardless where the people playing the games stand politically..it is marketing 101.

 

[Xater]

Someone should tell them that the entire premise the Division is based on is political.

 

[808s & Villainy]

I don't know the obsession with having them say they're making political statements. Is it just for the gotcha moment or something? Who cares? If the game is making what people perceive are political statements what difference does it make whether the developers admit to it or not? The admittance doesn't change the content. Their views, or at least the ones they chose to display, can still be inferred.

 

[Matty H]

So the story has no message? Nothing learned over the course of hours of dialogue? What is the point?

They may as well take all imagery and colour out of the game. Just have grey blocks shooting other grey blocks in an environment of grey blocks.

 

[daybreak]

Given the fact that Bethesda somehow had blowback for the incredibly controversial (sarcasm) statement of "Fuck Nazis," I'm not surprised Ubisoft wants to say it's not political.

It's weak and shitty, but I get it. They have shareholders to please. I'll hold it more against the state of the world and corporate greed than I will the poor marketing/PR folks that have to deal with it.

 

[Deleted member 48897]

Isn't this the game that was like "come see what a real government shutdown looks like" during the real government shutdown to promote their game's [fictional] government shutdown scenario

 

[entremet]

I never bought into the "won't be political" bullshit. Art is by definition political, and The Division 2 is charged with political rhetoric.

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I don't believe all art is political. Is Sharknado political lol.

But this game claiming it's not is funny given the subject matter.

 

[Reckheim]

They probably think its financially more beneficial to say the game is not political (even tho it obviously will be).

Whether there is any correlation, I can't say; but I believe that is their reasoning for saying it.

 

[Wintermute]

> Insisting The Division 2 is apolitical while marketing it with overtly political messages is some grade-A bullshit

https://www.vg247.com/2019/03/07/in...ng-overtly-political-messages-grade-bullshit/