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“Our story is political” – Ubisoft narrative director and lead writer, Navid Khavari, on Far Cry 6.

After years of claiming its games never had political stances, Far Cry 6’s narrative director Navid Khavari, released a statement this morning that started with a simple sentence: “Our story is political”.

While not every game needs to give out some form of political commentary, Ubisoft repeatedly threw itself in it by setting its games in particularly spiky territory. Whether it be a post-apocalyptic Washington DC in The Division 2 or a religious cult in the heart of America in Far Cry 5, Ubisoft games would regularly set up settings, characters or themes that were rife for discussion and debate, and then refuse to admit they ever admit that the conversation existed.

It seems that Far Cry 6 is a step too far, however. Its immediate comparison between its fictional setting of Yara and the very real Cuba has led to a U-turn on the company’s milquetoast stance on The Division 2. Ubisoft posted the article on its blog, where Khavari stated:

“There are hard, relevant discussions in Far Cry 6 about the conditions that lead to the rise of fascism in a nation, the costs of imperialism, forced labour, the need for free-and-fair elections, LGBTQ+ rights, and more within the context of Yara, a fictional island in the Caribbean.”

Khavari did go on to state that, while Far Cry 6 is political in nature, the game isn’t going to give any black and white stance on the Cuban climate.

“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,” the blog post continues.

“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.”

While Khavari and Ubsoft’s statements may have been unavoidable considering the backlash towards games like The Division 2, it is nice for the fence-sitting company to finally at least acknowledge the conversation.


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