NEX will not sell game with Taliban play mode - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times

NEX will not sell game with Taliban play mode

The Navy Exchange has decided not to sell at its stores the latest iteration of the “Medal of Honor” videogame that features a mode allowing gamers to play as Taliban fighters and kill American troops.

A statement from Navy Exchange Service Command Tuesday said the retailer will not put the Electronic Arts game on its shelves “out of respect for the men and women who serve in the military.”

The announcement follows a similar decision Sept. 2 by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service to disallow selling the game at its stores. On-base GameStop locations have followed suit, though its off-base locations will carry the game scheduled for release in October.

EA President Frank Gibeau told Develop Online on Aug. 23 the game was a “creative risk” but that the company stood by its product.

“At EA we passionately believe games are an art form, and I don’t know why films and books set in Afghanistan don’t get flack, yet [games] do,” he told the website. “Whether it’s Red Badge of Courage or The Hurt Locker, the media of its time can be a platform for the people who wish to tell their stories. Games are becoming that platform.”

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