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                                                                    This might seem like a slightly surreal milestone to mark the way
                                                                 the political sphere has changed in recent times, but there’s more
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                                                                 like Milo Yiannopoulos (who also recently toured Australia) delib
                                                                 erately use the outrage, resentment and outsider anxiety common
                                                                 among young men in the videogame world to recruit political con
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                                                                 a nexus between disenfranchised young men interested in vide
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                                                                 them towards politics.
               WOLFENSTEIN II: THE NEW COLOSSUS                     Videogame culture contains a great many normal people who
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                                                                 actively campaign against it (such as, it now seems, 6NKEDMRSDHM’s
             HITTING THE RIGHT TARGETS                           GHYHORSHUV DQG SXEOLVKHUV   %XW LW LV DOVR D KXE IRU ULJKW ZLQJ H[
                                                                 tremists, and that fact is getting more evident by the day. 5("$
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             One of the most bizarre things about the videogame world today  t FRQWDLQV D JUHDW QXPEHU RI 1D]L VW\OH FRPPXQLWLHV  IRU WKRVH ZKR
             is that 6NKEDMRSDHM, a game franchise dating back to the 1980s, is  ZDQW WR JDPH ZLWK OLNH PLQGHG IDVFLVWV  7KHVH UDQJH IURP WKRVH
             controversial again. If you had separated yourself from the rest of  who style themselves as jokers and trolls, to authentic white su
             the planet over the last year or so, that might not seem particularly  SUHPDFLVWV DQG 1DWLRQDO 6RFLDOLVW JURXSV XVLQJ 6WHDP DV D SODWIRUP
             surprising – but for different reasons. 6NKEDMRSDHM has always been a  5("$ FRQWDFWHG 9DOYH  WKH 6HDWWOH EDVHG FRPSDQ\ WKDW RZQV DQG
             little controversial for its violent imagery, its role in helping to create  UXQV 6WHDP  IRU FRPPHQW  EXW QHYHU KHDUG EDFN  7R REVHUYHUV RI
             WKH ĺUVW SHUVRQ VKRRWHU JHQUH DQG LWV UHODWLRQVKLS WR LWV \RXQJHU   the videogames industry, this is hardly a surprise: Valve, once also
             brasher siblings, #NNL and 0T@JD. Perhaps, you might think, this  D YLGHRJDPH GHYHORSHU  VHHV LWVHOI DV WHFKQR OLEHUWDULDQ  ZLWK OLWWOH
             new iteration of the 6NKEDMRSDHM franchise has found yet another  interest in either social commentary or regulating the platforms and
             way to take bad taste to the extreme. The groundbreaking 1992  services it manages. The company has enjoyed immense creative
             6NKEDMRSDHM  # GRHV IHDWXUH $GROI +LWOHU LQ D GXDO ZLHOGLQJ PDFKLQH   success by being a workplace with little hierarchy (employees are
             JXQ PHFKD VXLW  DIWHU DOO                           often free to work on whatever project they please with no line man
                6XUSULVLQJO\  WKRXJK  ZKDW LV FRQWHQWLRXV DERXW 6NKEDMRSDHM ((   agement), but this has also fostered big problems. Valve does not,
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             This has always been a fairly stable element of the series: 2009’s  GHVLJQ  ,I WKHUH LV QR RQH WR GHDO ZLWK WKH SUREOHP  SHUKDSV WKHUH LV
             6NKEDMRSDHM LV D SXOS\ WDNH RQ SXOS\ :RUOG :DU ,, PHGLD WKDW VHHV  no problem at all (so the thinking goes).
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                 V  ZKHUH WKH 1D]LV KDYH ZRQ WKH ZDU DQG WDNHQ RYHU  OHDYLQJ  need 6NKEDMRSDHM after all.
             the player no choice but to become a rebel. In the early 1990s, this
             kind of material would have seemed absurd, even a little gauche, in
                                                                                      • • • • • • •
             its potential trivialisation of horrendous world events. In more recent
             times, on the other hand, some sectors of the videogame commu
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                0DLQVWUHDP YLGHRJDPH GHYHORSHUV DUHQpW XVXDOO\ SURQH WR GH   NE "HMDL@, Screenhub, Kill Your Darlings and ACMI. She is a cura-
             liberately political statements, so the fact that 6NKEDMRSDHM ((  3GD  SNQ @MC OQDRDMSDQ ENQ  TRSQ@KH@M BNMSDMS RSQD@LHMF RDQUHBD .YlHW  @MC
             -DV "NKNRRTR ĺQGV LWVHOI PDNLQJ RQH LV UHDOO\ RZHG PRUH WR WKH  HRŭSGDŭBN GNRS NE KNMF QTMMHMF kKL ONCB@RS Hell Is for Hyphenates.
             exceptional nature of current events. Yet the developers have, to
             their credit, owned this position and happily taken on the role of the  3@Q@ )TC@G HR @ EQDDK@MBD kKL BQHSHB @MC BTQ@SNQ  @MC NMKHMD DCHSNQ ENQ
             videogame world’s Antifa (and cannily used it as a marketing tool).  @QBGHUD @MC BK@RRHB kKL EDRSHU@K "HMDL@ 1DCHRBNUDQDC HM SGD 4*
             Pete Hines, vice president of marketing at 6NKEDMRSDHM publisher
             Bethesda, told 1NKKHMF 2SNMD:                       #Q +HY &HTEEQD HR @ KDBSTQDQ HM BNLLTMHB@SHNM @S SGD 4MHUDQRHSX NE
                                                                 Technology Sydney as well as a freelance arts commentator and
             6D VDQDM S FNHMF SN GHCD EQNL SGD E@BS NTQ F@LD HR @ANTS JHKKHMF -@YHR  journalist.
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             @QDM S @EQ@HC SN QDLHMC ODNOKD NE SG@S              Independent Games Festival, and is a lecturer in media and commu-
                                                                 nications at Swinburne University of Technology. He is also a freelance
             6NKEDMRSDHMpV PDUNHWLQJ VLPLODUO\ OHG IURP WKH IURQW  UXQQLQJ VRFLDO   arts and videogames journalist, and the co-author of Game Changers:
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