Controversy has helped Tomb Raider – Gearbox executive

By: Musa Afridi

  |   September 5th, 2012   |  

Uncategorized

Randy Pitchford, the President of Gearbox, explained how the assault scene controversy helped put the Tomb Raider reboot on the map admitted the executive at the cost of sounding cynical.

There is a saying the entertainment industry that no publicity is bad publicity and it seems that the same holds true for the interactive entertainment industry as well.

There have been a number of high profile controversies in the video game industry recently as the medium was able to offend a number of demographics. Hitman’s Sexy Nun Assassins trailer was the first and it had feminists up in arms as to how derogatory the trailer was towards women.

The developers have since come out and defended the trailer but have also changed the game in order to give more context to the scene and that particular level.

Another major controversy was that surrounding the ‘rape’ or assault scene, which was depicted in the trailer for the Tomb Raider reboot. The sequence offended many and despite the best efforts of the developer pointing out that the scene was important for the character’s development and that there was no actual rape, even implied, the media wasn’t having any of it.

This was a point that Randy Pitchford highlighted when asked by CVG about the moral panics and mixed reactions the general public and the media have towards video games.

He said,” I’m going to get cynical and reference the Lara Croft thing. I haven’t even seen the scenes that are contentious, but I do know this – I’m thinking about it, and more people are talking about Tomb Raider.”

Elaborating on that statement, Pitchford continued, “I’m thinking about it more and talking about it more than I have since the first one. So who’s really winning there? Are they changing their game because of the feedback? Who’s really winning?”

So it seems that the video game industry may not be as innocent or new to the tricks of the entertainment trade as one may expect, at least, that is what Randy Pitchford seems to be suggesting.

Whether one sides with his observation or not, one has to admit that the Gearbox executive may be on to something, or he may just be a cynic in this particular case. Whatever one chooses to believe, one can expect more controversies coming up in the future as video games continue to become a major part of mainstream entertainment.

But what about the readers; do they agree with Mr. Pitchford n the fact that the controversy has benefitted the developer or do they think it was just a reaction by the media that was blown out of proportions? Let your voice be heard in the comments section below.