Digital entertainment company Electronic Arts (EA), which distributes the life simulation video game series The Sims, presented on Tuesday new to accompany the fourth version of the game. Entitled “Marriage”, this expansion features love. More precisely, that of Dominique and Camille.
The Sapphic couple are featured on the cover, both dressed in white and walking down the sandy aisle after formalizing their union. This image, important to many people, is the reason behind the gambling ban in Russia.
This illustration of a happy homosexual couple goes against the federal law on the “protection of children from information harmful to their health and development”. In 2013, under Vladimir Putin, the Duma voted unanimously minus one vote for the addition to Article 5 of a text on “the legislative ban on homosexual propaganda in Russia among minors. »
In other words, any illustration of homosexuality, especially in full bloom, is prohibited for an audience under the age of 18. The Marriage expansion poster is exactly against this law.
“As we moved forward in our brand development and storytelling process, we realized that the way we wanted to tell Cam and Dom’s story was not something we could freely share around the world,” detailed EA in a statement on Wednesday.
The company explains that Dom and Cam’s love story reflects the experience of many players, but also some members of the team. “We are determined to uphold that commitment by highlighting and celebrating stories like Dom and Cam’s, and so we’ve decided to forgo the release of ‘Marriage’ where our story should have been changed due to laws. federal,” the statement also read.
Counter productive
In addition, some queer Internet users consider this decision by EA to be counterproductive. One of them responded to the company’s statement via Twitter, stating that if the company was anti-homophobic, it would release this extension in Russia in order to confront the government and let the community play.
“It’s the same logic as when artists refuse to perform in Russia because of the homophobia of the government,” read one of the first tweets of the Internet user. In a second, he argues that “the Russian government mocks Sims’ statement on homophobia. In fact, if they pay any attention to it, they’ll most likely be happy that EA decided not to release the expansion. »
the russian government could care less about the sims’ statement on homophobia. in fact, if they do pay any attention at all, they will most likely be happy EA decided not to release the pack.
EA isn’t doing anything for russian queers. or they’re even aggravating the problem.
— polina, back off (@gravewhistle) February 10, 2022
Some Internet users defend this point of view, explaining that EA’s intention is to look good in the eyes of other countries, advocating an anti-homophobic discourse, but that in reality, this is more harmful than anything else for the community. LGBTQ+ Russian. They are deprived of the game, in addition to seeing no confrontation between their government and the digital entertainment company. Many would have liked to see the company fight for its beliefs by releasing the game anyway.
old fights
While going to the altar and marrying your better half is a new feature in the “Marriage” version, being in a relationship with someone of the same sex as your avatar is not new. Many versions of The Sims already offered this possibility, which, however, had not prompted Russia to ban them. Moscow then opted instead for a change in classification, moving the video game from T (for teenagers) to 18 and over.
This is not the first time that the law on the prohibition of homosexual propaganda has shocked the international community. A few months after its entry into force, the country hosted the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Then-sports minister Vitali Moutko said all athletes were welcome, but warned athletes with “non-traditional sexual orientations” not to propagate their sexuality in the streets, without how they should answer to the law. This declaration led to demonstrations and a call for a boycott.
More recently in culture, the film Rocketman chronicling the life of Elton John has been censored. The 2019 feature film saw its homosexual scenes removed in Russia, which the singer had also strongly criticized. In total, nearly five minutes of material had been removed from the production, including scenes where there is drug use.