Ubisoft has been flirting with politics for years, and I wish it would finally commit.
When I was told that Far Cry 6 “doesn’t want to make a political statement” I was somewhat perplexed, unable to detach my train of thought from the inherently political themes and characters being explored in the upcoming shooter. Taking place in a fictional country heavily inspired by Cuba and the country’s own history with revolution, Ubisoft’s latest blockbuster aims to explore the rise of a tyrannical dictator who willingly inflicts fascism, slavery, and martial law upon his people without a second thought. Your job is to fight back against this, acting as a righteous beacon of hope seeking freedom and inclusivity. By all accounts, you’re the left-leaning power in this equation, but any allusions to political association are thrown away, the fictional setting used as an excuse to avoid all meaningful debate. It’s a bummer, and I wish Ubisoft didn’t do this so often.
There’s nothing wrong with being a liberating power fantasy - it’s a virtual escape Far Cry has provided for years, but the franchise has also become increasingly bold in its storytelling, drawing comparisons to reality in a way that is difficult to avoid. Other titles in Ubisoft’s library like The Division 2 or Watch Dogs Legion only further cement this reputation, establishing the publisher as one that wants to be daring while also defining itself as a centrist who would do anything to avoid rocking the boat. Its stories would be so much stronger if it leaned into these themes, sending a message that fascism and bigotry have no place in the world, and encouraging its audience to fight back against these ideals in a way that few major companies would risk evoking.
This happened with Far Cry 5 too, which drew a number of criticisms prior to its reveal with a setting that seemed to purposefully ape the rise of far-right rhetoric across rural America in the wake of Donald Trump’s rise as President. The land is taken over by a fascist cult with evil intentions, seeking to purify the land of anyone who goes against their lofty ideals. But much like Far Cry 6, it places the game in a fictional location, one that is evidently based on reality, but seeks to detach itself from real-world issues so it can play around with darker themes without ever committing to them. It’s a tiring trend, and Ubisoft’s obvious attempt to distance itself from the locations it takes such heavy inspiration from only makes the comparison more obvious. It can be used sparingly as a comedic device but now it feels like a tiresome trope it continues to use, and that joke isn’t funny anymore.
Far Cry 5 was likely in the works long before Donald Trump’s rise to power, but conservative thought has been a common occurrence in the United States for decades, and the game seemed to play fast and loose with much of the imagery we’ve come to associate with the white supremacy and bigotry that many minorities have endured in the USA. Morphing all of this into a wacky Christian cult and batting away any and all criticism by saying “we aren’t trying to be political” just doesn’t cut it. You’re allowed to be political, and games are often better for it, such a keen avoidance shows that you don’t want to make a stand, in fear of alienating potential assholes in your audience or risking lucrative deals with military ordnance manufacturers.
An apolitical stance is a symbol of cowardice and ignorance, an acknowledgement that Far Cry 6 is perfectly happy to explore the gruesome impact of fascism, guerilla life, and martial law on a nation of people on the brink of revolution, but instead of engaging with it on a significant level, it gives the player a selection of chaotic weapons and asks them to have fun. I get it, games are meant to be fun, but they can also ask tough, introspective questions that encourage us to engage with its themes and how they might be reflected in reality. Learning about the inner workings of fascism and how such viewpoints can be countered and overturned is vitally important, especially in a world where such individuals are rising to power again and again. I understand Ubisoft’s wish to provide a virtual escape in its games, but you can’t flirt so aggressively with political themes and then act like you’re not trying to engage with them.
The developers told me that they spoke to actual guerilla fighters from Cuba to help craft the world and characters of Far Cry 6, using their stories as inspiration for the revolution the island of Yara hopes to convey. You can’t take anecdotal evidence from actual fighters from an actual revolution and transplant them into your fictional island then claim it isn’t trying to be political. Making the setting fictional shouldn’t be an excuse, doubly so when much of the narrative substance is provided by real examples of people overthrowing powers that threatened to take everything they hold dear away. It’s hurtful, discounting the memories and struggles of so many just to provide substance to a plot that isn’t going to bother delving into the inner workings in the slightest.
The frustrating part is that Far Cry 6 is in a position to explore these themes in so much detail, but it is knowingly choosing not to. You can’t have a “guerilla fantasy” without its political attachments. It’s impossible. Giving the player a crocodile wearing a jacket and a wheelchair dog before asking them to ignore the bigger questions as they murder countless fascists isn’t enough for me anymore, and I wish the medium would do better.
