The road to E3 is a minefield of misdirection and misinformation, so it’s not unusual for game publishers to tease a few titles in advance, in order to generate a bit of buzz before the main event. That’s just what Ubisoft did, teasing the cover art for the next instalment of their flagship first-person shooter series Far Cry. However, the reaction to this anticipated sequel wasn’t quite what they expected.
This image has caused quite the uproar, with many commenting that it’s just down right racist. To make matters worse, the lack of details that accompanied the reveal have led to the belief that Ubisoft actually welcomed this sort of attention. It’s what the French refer to as Succès de scandal. After all, as long as people talking about their game then there’s no such thing as bad publicity, right?
In the 80’s, some games took the Spinal Tap approach to cover art, with a number of titles giving the original artwork for Smell the Glove a run for its money. Released in 1987, Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior was a primitive beat ‘em up for the Commodore 64, that stylistically owed a debt of gratitude to the Schwarzenegger’s Conan the Barbarian.
The front cover featured a page three mode, covering only the bare essentials, lying at the feet of an oily Arnie wannabe, clearly overcompensating for something with that big sword. Given that games were still considered toys and aimed at children at the time, including a semi-nude busty woman as you can imagine caused an outcry.
Surprisingly, the game was praised by critics, but in spite of this, the success of the game is largely attributed to a free poster of the racy front cover appealing to a generation of adolescent boys. It proved to be so successful that other games adopted similar tactics.
1988’s Vixen was a technical triumph. The in-game animation was captured from moving images, thus making the movement more realistic. Nonetheless, critics couldn’t move passed the scantily glad Amazonian woman (another page three model) that dominated the front cover. Boots even refused to stock it, back when Boots sold games. It should have failed. But the promise of another poster version of the front cover was included in the box and all of a sudden, Vixen was a success. I suppose sex really does sell.
Controversial campaigns don’t always work out though, particularly when they down right insult your target audience. As one of the creative minds behind gaming milestones such as Doom and Quake, John Romero looked as if he could do no wrong. While his long awaited, oft-delayed Daikatana underwent development hell, several teasers ads were released to keep interest in the game alive.
Bold as brass, these trash-talking ads proclaimed that “John Romero’s about to make you his bitch.” Bad move, John. Delaying a game is one thing but insulting your fans is another. The campaign has since gone down as one of the biggest blunders in gaming history.
Since the Far Cry 4 announcement, the game’s creative director has since elaborated on the game’s cover art but still the debate goes on. If there’s one positive to take it’s that games and those who play them are definitely growing up. Whether it is sexism, racism or just childish arrogance, gone are the days where a free poster amends for any wrong doing. Instead, publishers are being put on the spot for using questionable tactics to sell their game. In the meantime, any actual in-game footage of Far Cry 4 has yet to be revealed. It will be interesting to see what sort of reaction both it and Ubisoft will receive at E3 this month.
Originally published in The Big List NI issue 248
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