Electronic Arts has received an enormous amount of criticism towards its upcoming Medal of Honor title and its decision to include the Taliban as a playable online squad. Unfortunately, this decision resulted in the American armed forces banning the title from being sold on bases around the world. However, unlike the change for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and its charge-per-weapon being pulled, most expected EA to continue to include the Taliban within MOH.
Today, executive producer Greg Goodrich announced that EA has pulled the Taliban name from the title and instead renamed the enemy group, “Opposing Force.” Yes, we agree, this is incredibly lame. Check out his full statement below.
In the past few months, we have received feedback from all over the world regarding the multiplayer portion of Medal of Honor. We’ve received notes from gamers, active military, and friends and family of servicemen and women currently deployed overseas. The majority of this feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. For this, the Medal of Honor team is deeply appreciative.
However, we have also received feedback from friends and families of fallen soldiers who have expressed concern over the inclusion of the Taliban in the multiplayer portion of our game. This is a very important voice to the Medal of Honor team. This is a voice that has earned the right to be listened to. It is a voice that we care deeply about. Because of this, and because the heartbeat of Medal of Honor has always resided in the reverence for American and Allied soldiers, we have decided to rename the opposing team in Medal of Honor multiplayer from Taliban to Opposing Force.
While this change should not directly affect gamers, as it does not fundamentally alter the gameplay, we are making this change for the men and women serving in the military and for the families of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice – this franchise will never willfully disrespect, intentionally or otherwise, your memory and service.
To all who serve – we appreciate you, we thank you, and we do not take you for granted. And to the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines currently serving overseas, stay safe and come home soon.
Greg Goodrich
Executive Producer
Medal of Honor
I’d like to hear what you guys think about this quick change prior to release. Do you think EA is making the right call here in honoring the wishes of the armed forces or do you think EA is doing an injustice to the games industry in providing gaming as a medium of art? Let us know below.
It’s good that they’ve listened to the families, but at the same time, I think it was an over-reaction from the families. It is just a videogame, after all.
Changing the name in the game isn’t (unfortunately) going to make the real Taliban go away, and isn’t going to bring back their loved ones. The real Taliban are still going to be there, and they’re still going to kill more US & UK troops, whether this game lets you play as them or not. I don’t see that playing as them is an any way glorifying what they do, just I don’t see these games in general as glorifying war.
They are just that – games. It doesn’t matter if the enemy is called Taliban, Helghast, or Covenant. You kill them, they kill you. It’s a word, and words never hurt anyone – at least, not physically.
Not a big deal I guess, but thats exactly it. Its a video game. Soldiers and families should be respected, but is changing the enemy forces name from Taliban to whatever really that big of a deal to them? The game is supposed to depict real life, so in real life thats what they are called. Taliban. In movies I’m sure it should be the same deal. People act as the Taliban, but no one gets upset about people ACTING as a person that kills American soldiers. Playing a game about it isn’t a big deal… I
m sure the majority of players wouldn’t even notice or acknowledge the Taliban name in the game.
EA’s apology was nothing more than damage control. A total pathos response.
No wonder, look, these guys just want to make some money with their project and then to enjoy it on a cruise in Caribbean. Let the controversial stuff for artists and journalists.