Electronic
Arts this week said it will no longer pay gun manufacturers for the right to
use branded weapons in video games, following a controversial decision to promote assault weapons dealers in one of its flagship
products. EA confirmed the decision to Reuters Tuesday, while claiming that
it retains the right to depict guns without a license.
The
game company came under fire last year, after it included links to certain gun
sellers on the website for Medal of Honor: Warfighter. At the time, EA
said the promotion was part of an effort to raise money for military veterans,
though it soon removed the links due to sharp public outcry.
"We won't do that again," EA spokesperson Jeff Brown told
Reuters. "The action games we will release this year will not include
licensed images of weapons."
The gaming industry has come under increased scrutiny following the
December 2012 shootings in Newtown, Connecticut — a tragedy that has reignited
the debate surrounding gun control and violent media. Vice President Joe Biden
discussed the issue with game industry leaders earlier this year, while the National Rifle Association has
taken a more pointed approach, singling out video games as a driver of violent
culture. After the Newtown shooting, NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre
described the gaming industry as "a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow
industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people."
Brown says EA's decision had little to do with politics, noting that
LaPierre's comments have had little resonance among its clientele. "The
response from our audience was pretty clear: they feel the comments from the
NRA were a simple attempt to change the subject," the spokesperson said.
The game company claims it has the legal right to depict branded weapons
in its products, likening its games to novels and other narrative-based media.
"We're telling a story and we have a point of view," Frank Gibeau, EA
president of labels, said in an interview with Reuters. "A book doesn't
pay for saying the word 'Colt,' for example."
Thus far, gun makers haven't sued game companies for using branded
weapons without a license, though EA's free speech philosophy has come under
fire from Bell Helicopter, which challenged the company's unlicensed depiction
of one of its helicopters in the game Battlefield. EA preemptively sued the aircraft manufacturer last year, with
the trial scheduled to begin in June. [Source]
