A recent piece of artwork for the upcoming Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, which was previously the subject of controversy relating to its use of the term “mechanical apartheid,” is once again in the spotlight for another supposedly problematic issue. The developers of the game, Eidos Montreal, released a new batch of concept art depicting the futuristic setting of Deus Ex, which takes place in 2029. Images depicting urban environments are adorned with an assortment of futuristic, angular architecture.
One of the evocative pictures shows protesters going up against a line of heavily armed police in front of the Kremlin, with masked rioters holding up an “AUGS LIVES MATTERS” banner, drawing artistic inspiration from the Black Lives Matter slogan. Pro-human protesters behind the police line can be seen waving “NO MORE AUGS,” “AUGS OUT!,” and “PURITY FIRST” signs. The image has caused the studio to receive an endless litany of condemnation from self-proclaimed proponents of social justice calling the artwork “appropriation.”
A leading voice in the chorus is BioWare gameplay designer Manveer Heir, who’s developing the upcoming Mass Effect: Andromeda, who tweeted up a storm of outrage.
“I am sure the Deus Ex team is very diverse and… oh wait,” he wrote, linking to the following image:
Deus Ex #MankindDivided is GOLD! We can't wait for you all to play our game. ???????? pic.twitter.com/KsovlMdmLU
— Deus Ex (@DeusEx) July 29, 2016
“Many video game studios don’t have enough diversity,” he wrote in justification of his anger. “But when you outright fuckup by appropriating [Black Lives Matter] you deserve to get called out.”
It should be noted that several of the game’s leads, including former game director Gilles Matouba and Andre Vu — both of whom came up with the game’s central themes — are not white.
“Also, let’s pretend for a minute there was a ton of diversity on that Deus Ex team,” he continued, “It doesn’t mean they understand the issues well enough.”
“Diversity on its own is not the solution. It’s a first step. Actually being woke enough to understand inclusion issues still must occur,” he wrote.
This implies that it’s the responsibility of artists, regardless of their ethnic background, to be “woke” to social justice issues. Contrary to Heir’s statements, it isn’t an artist’s job to promote political agendas, much less a “woke” one — unless they decide to be political, of course. And in that case, the artist should still be free to do so in whichever way he or she prefers, not subject to the vetting and approval of the “social justice warriors” who’ve declared themselves the gatekeepers of creative expression.
Further condemning the studio, Heir stated that the developers should censor themselves and stop using such imagery to promote the game if they care about black people at all. Despite admitting that there was a possibility that the game’s themes could be done well, he concluded that the whole thing was simply “highly problematic.”
In response to the many replies Heir received, which questioned his authoritarian views, he tweeted:
Here come the neophytes with their fire takes from their trash brains
— Manveer Heir (@manveerheir) August 2, 2016
The developers at Eidos Montreal have not responded to the latest outrage, but they have done so in the past. Speaking in an interview last year, the game’s art director Jonathan Jacques-Belletete described the call for self-censorship as outlandish and hypocritical given how video games still struggle to earn their place as an artistic medium.
“There are so many kind of hypocritical, intersecting dialogs in our industry,” said the artist. “It’s a form of art, the people outside don’t think it’s art, it’s just stupid games. We’re fighting against those people. And then when we’re dealing with serious subjects suddenly we’re treated as little kids that are just doing video games again. This whole thing is completely ridiculous.”
There’s no better way to put it. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is due for release later this month, so expect even more frivolous complaints about its themes upon release.
