EA drops licenses with gun manufacturers
EA has announced that it is severing its licensing with gun manufacturers, but claims that it still has the right to feature branded guns without a license.
Electronic Arts has announced that it is severing its licensing with gun manufacturers, but claims that it still has the right to feature branded guns without a license. The matter could be pressed to court, but legal experts say there is no precedent for gun companies suing game publishers for displaying branded guns.
"We're telling a story and we have a point of view," EA's President of Labels Frank Gibeau told Reuters. "A book doesn't pay for saying the word 'Colt,' for example."
While gun manufacturers have not announced any plans for a suit, EA does have a court date in June with Bell Helicopter. The company argues that EA's use of its helicopters in Battlefield games is not fair use. The results of that case could be a bellwether for any potential legal action from gun manufacturers.
"It gives publicity to the particular brand of gun being used in the video game," said Ohio State professor Brad J. Bushman, who has studied video game violence. "On the other hand, it's linking that gun with violent and aggressive behavior."
This is EA's second move away from gun manufacturers in the last several months. In December, the company removed links to firearms manufacturers, calling them "inappropriate" in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting. It noted, however, that it was a charity project that raised money for veterans, and that the company didn't receive payment from the deal.
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Steve Watts posted a new article, EA drops licenses with gun manufacturers.
EA has announced that it is severing its licensing with gun manufacturers, but claims that it still has the right to feature branded guns without a license.-
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"In December, the company removed links to firearms manufacturers, calling them "inappropriate" in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting."
If they were 'inappropriate' then, they're 'inappropriate' now. EA can couch it however they want, but the real reason is still evident. Besides, if they can feature branded guns without the license, why have the license to begin with? They're trying to sever ties with the gun manufacturers to save face and money and still reap the benefit of having the branded guns in their game.
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It's an interesting commentary on how EA tried to make the Medal of Honor modern military franchise look "more authentic" with weapon branding, only to have it backfire. They also propped it up with a charity. Between this and the Zero Dark Thirty tie-in, there was a ton of shameless marketing for Medal of Honor: Warfighter, while the final product, the GAME, was a bad quality product.
Compare to Activision's Call of Duty studios, who use military designations for all the weapons (M4, M1911, G36), or designation-esque codenames (i.e.: "W1200" for Winchester 1200 shotgun, or "R700" for Remington Model 700 bolt-action rifle).-
Actually, starting with W3, Call of Duty has had a TON of branding on their guns. The 870 MCS is actually the Remington model, and named it in-game. The EOtech sights are actually branded as such. Instead of calling it a holographic sight, it's just called "EOtech" in the attachments menu, and has the logo on the side.
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