We favored what we noticed of the SWAT-style shooter Prepared or Not once we acquired our first look at it in 2019. Set in a crumbling and corrupt near-future US, it options gameplay impressed by the unique Rainbow Six and SWAT sequence that challenges gamers to “defuse hostile and confronting conditions.” On the time, it was anticipated to launch close to the tip of 2020, however as a substitute it debuted in Early Entry on December 17 of this yr.
Only a few days after that, nonetheless, developer Void Interactive introduced that it had parted methods with Team17, the writer. “Void Interactive and Team17 have mutually agreed that Team17 will not publish Prepared or Not,” the studio tweeted. “We’re assured that that is the fitting path for the way forward for Prepared or Not, and we thank Team17 for his or her partnership and want them nice success with their spectrum of video games!”
VOID Interactive and Team17 have mutually agreed that Team17 will not publish Prepared or Not. We’re assured that that is the fitting path for the way forward for Prepared or Not, and we thank Team17 for his or her partnership and want them nice success with their spectrum of video games!December 20, 2021
A cause for the break up wasn’t given, nevertheless it occurred just some days after a consumer within the Prepared or Not subreddit requested if the sport ought to have a “school shooting mission.” In response, a Void Interactive developer replied, “You higher consider it is gonna.” The response has since been deleted, however will be seen by way of the Wayback Machine.
The widely-held assumption is that Team17 did not suppose a faculty taking pictures degree was an acceptable thought, and Void Interactive did not wish to let it go. A Void Interactive consultant denied any connection between the break up with Team17 and the deliberate faculty taking pictures degree, nonetheless.
Void Interactive addressed the problem in a press release shared on Twitter:
There isn’t a simple approach to deal with this situation with out creating sturdy emotional responses from one group or one other, however we’ll do our greatest. I wish to begin by mentioning a quote from our unique firm documentation that we’ve got at all times believed in, proceed to consider in, and that has been identified to anybody who has engaged in enterprise with our firm.
“Void Interactive has a transparent dedication to ship prime quality, impactful content material that different mainstream software program builders could shrink back from as a consequence of cultural conventions and norms. At Void Interactive we worth the voice of our prospects and companions and while this is not going to dictate our route, we’ll enable it to neatly affect what we do. At its core, the sport honors the work of devoted legislation enforcement officers internationally and under no circumstances intends to glorify cowardly legal acts.”
We’re devoted to selling a degree of authenticity and realism in our videogame, Prepared or Not, that carries with it tough material. We perceive that this requires a sure accountability—to our followers and group, sure. But additionally to those that have been impacted by the traumatic occasions legislation enforcement all too typically responds to. Relaxation assured, our purpose is to deal with all of Prepared or Not’s content material with the extent of weight and respect that it warrants. We now have lately needed to remind sure workforce members of the required care in discussing this materials now and on an ongoing foundation.
“Faculty” is not only part of Prepared or Not’s story, it’s a part of the material of 1000’s of individuals’s tales worldwide. It’s the story of those that have died too quickly by the hands of a deranged gunman, the story of household and mates ready for a telephone name that may by no means come, the story of the primary responders who do the whole lot they’ll just for it to be sufficient. It’s a have a look at an uncomfortable actuality that has change into all too frequent, and we hope that we are able to play some small half in honoring those that have been impacted by these actual world tragedies with a portrayal that doesn’t trivialize their experiences.
We’ll proceed to observe our imaginative and prescient, we’ll proceed to pay attention, and we’ll proceed to work every single day on Prepared or Not. Thanks.
To be clear, this faculty taking pictures degree does not truly exist at this level—it is all fully hypothetical at this level. And if it ever does come to be, gamers will presumably be intervening in a taking pictures, not committing it. As we have beforehand seen in Six Days in Fallujah, designing a sport round a delicate real-life state of affairs is probably the clearest approach for a developer to speak their worldview, which will likely be scrutinized and criticized. And, typically, videogame recreations of actual life tragedies are going to trigger a powerful response. Faculty shootings are common topics for motion pictures and tv exhibits, however an interactive medium is a completely completely different matter.
In a follow-up tweet, Void Interactive reassured followers that it stays dedicated to its imaginative and prescient of “Prepared or Not as a hardcore interactive tactical shooter.” Thus far, the gamers appear to love it: Prepared or Not at present enjoys an “overwhelmingly constructive” ranking on Steam throughout greater than 8,300 consumer evaluations.
I’ve reached out to Team17 for remark and can replace if I obtain a reply.
