Far Cry 6’s Narrative Director has stated its story is political, a mere three days after declaring the developers did not wish to make political statements with it.
In a blog post titled “The Politics of Far Cry 6,” Narrative Director Navid Khavari opens with “Our story is political” and that “A story about a modern revolution must be.”
Ubisoft further claim that game will have hard, relevant discussions about the conditions leading to the rise of fascism in a nation. These include “the costs of imperialism, forced labor, the need for free-and-fair elections, LGBTQ+ rights, and more within the context of Yara, a fictional island in the Caribbean.”
Khavari explains how the team aimed to create a story that was as accurate as possible to real life revolutions in nations such as Cuba.
“My goal was to empower our team to be fearless in the story we were telling, and we worked incredibly hard to do this over the last five years. We also tried to be very careful about how we approached our inspirations, which include Cuba, but also other countries around the world that have experienced political revolutions in their histories.
In our approach we made sure to seek creators and collaborators for our team who can speak personally to the history and cultures of the regions we were inspired by. We also brought on experts and consultants to examine the game story multiple times over the course of the project to make sure it was being told with sensitivity. It is not for me to decide if we succeeded, but I can say we absolutely tried.”
The team also conducted research and called upon those who fought in revolutions in the late 1950s to 1960s, which are “absolutely reflected in our story and characters.” Khavari then added the story is not about modern Cuba.
“But if anyone is seeking a simplified, binary political statement specifically on the current political climate in Cuba, they won’t find it. I am from a family that has endured the consequences of revolution. I have debated revolution over the dinner table my entire life. I can only speak for myself, but it is a complex subject that should never be boiled down to one quote.
What players will find is a story that’s point-of-view attempts to capture the political complexity of a modern, present-day revolution within a fictional context. We have attempted to tell a story with action, adventure, and heart, but that also isn’t afraid to ask hard questions. Far Cry is a brand that in its DNA seeks to have mature, complex themes balanced with levity and humor. One doesn’t exist without the other, and we have attempted to achieve this balance with care. My only hope is that we are willing to let the story speak for itself first before forming hard opinions on its political reflections.”
At least one who was dissatisfied with Ubisoft was Tim Soret; director of The Last Night, and founder of Odd Tales Games. Soret had previously been dog-pilled by the gaming press over his support of GamerGate (a consumer revolt to some, and organized harassment to others) and The Last Night‘s dystopian future having themes some felt was further commentary and support, and allegedly anti-feminist.
Soret referred back to an earlier tweet he made in 2020 criticizing Watch Dogs and other then recent Ubisoft games with themes of rebellion “stripped down of pain & nuance.” He proposed the game be set in “Hong Kong in 2047 when China takes over. And instead of gross rebellion porn, it would educate us, letting us experience the intricacies of the local situation & empathize with those stuck in the conflict.”
He also criticized how Ubisoft were seemingly undercutting their own claims of a serious story, with wackier moments such as a vinyl disc launcher that plays Macarena before shooting; complete with “skipping” as it fires.
“Ubisoft, stop the hypocrisy,” Soret tweeted. “You can’t sell the same meaningless playground for 15 years and suddenly claim that now it’s more than an excuse for ridiculous action gameplay. Admit that you’re selling mindless fun, or have the courage to radically change the formula if you dare.”
“We need a new generation of game/creative directors who aren’t cowards & will challenge sterile leadership to create anti-war dramas like Apocalypse Now, Schindler’s List, or even Grave of the Fireflies. We’re so far from it, despite probably having the best medium to do so.”
There has been discussion about politically-focused stories in video games, and media in general, in recent years; along with if stories biased towards particular ideals are upheld or quashed by the gaming press.
While there have always been video games about espionage, political intrigue, dystopias and cruel leaders, and critique of various political philosophies (some less veiled by metaphor than others); recently there has been criticism by some gamers about games where the plot features left-wing political ideology (progressivism or even outright communism and marxism).
Their claim is that while games championing those ideals fail to address any of the negatives of that ideology, other games that criticize those ideals (or even allegedly show fair and balanced critique of different ideas) are lambasted as supporting extremist right-wing ideals.
This in turn ties into other discussions about gaming press giving undo praise to otherwise average and poor games due to various biases; including the game’s supposed support for ideology the reviewer agrees with.
There are also some who claim even small moments of political ideology blatantly on show are used to defend the game from critique; so its defenders may declare those who think the game is flawed as those who despise that ideology.
This has led to some claiming that older gamers are hypocritical; stating they do not want political games, despite championing games with political themes such as the Metal Gear Solid series (or that they only wish to support political stories in agreement with their own ideology).
Prior to the publication of the Ubisoft blog post; Kotaku released a satirical piece entitled “Ubisoft Insists Latest Game, [INSERT NAME], Isn’t Political.” The piece mocked that Ubisoft would inevitably announce that Far Cry 6 was not a political game, despite the game’s themes and locals despite clear opportunity for “politically charged and potentially filled with commentary about [INSERT CURRENT EVENT].”
This piece was in turn inspired by Ubisoft’s earlier statements to The Gamer, where they focused on how Khavari stated that despite speaking to guerilla fighters the game “doesn’t want to make a political statement.” You can find the full quote below, where Khavari explained how the team fell in love with Cuba’s culture and people, and did not want to make a statement due to the complex history of the nation.
“The original inspiration was Guerilla Warfare and what is that guerilla fantasy, which is obviously tied to revolution. When you talk about guerillas, you think of the guerillas in the 1950s and 1960s, we actually went down there to speak to actual guerilla fighters who fought back then, and we just really fell in love with their stories.
[…] But we also fell in love with the culture and people we met. When we came out of that, it wasn’t that we felt we had to do Cuba, we realised it’s a complicated island and our game doesn’t want to make a political statement about what’s happening in Cuba specifically. Beyond that, we’re drawing inspiration from guerilla movements around the world and throughout history. 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.
[…] A revolution is complex, and the people you’re going to engage with are also complex. I use this line of philosophy, which is that every character has their own heartbeat, you just have to find it. We have this melting pot of motivational complexity where we tried to translate that into the gameplay and the story. So tonally, it sort of already existed. But for us, thematically, unifying that into the guerilla fantasy felt pretty natural.”
Has Ubisoft been strong-armed into making statements about modern day Cuban politics with Far Cry 6? Sound off in the comments below!
Far Cry 6 launches October 7th on Windows PC (via Epic Games Store, and Ubisoft), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Google Stadia.