"Gears 5," the forthcoming installment in the "Gears of Wars" third-person shooter game franchise, will be a smoke-free establishment.
The game, set for Sept. 10 release, comes from Xbox Game Studios and game developer The Coalition. The decision to remove all smoking references from "Gears 5" came after not-for-profit anti-smoking organization Truth Initiative approached Turner, whose ELeague esports division has broadcast rights to the title, about making the change. Turner collaborated with Microsoft and The Coalition to strip out smoking from the game.
In a statement, Rod Fergusson, studio head at The Coalition, said: "I've seen firsthand the devastating impact of smoking. It's always been important for me to not use smoking as a narrative device, which is why we made the conscious choice to avoid highlighting or glorifying smoking in 'Gears 5' and throughout the Gears of War Universe moving forward."
Past "Gears of War" titles have included occasional scenes with tobacco use, with certain characters holding cigarettes or cigars. The removal of tobacco depictions in "Gears 5" has been months in the works, said Seth Ladetsky, senior VP, Turner Sports Sales and head of Turner Sports Digital and ELeague sales strategy and revenue.
"This took a lot of time and a lot of good thinking," said Ladetsky. "It's the right image for ELeague — and the game itself — to project."
Truth, which is dedicated to ending tobacco use among young Americans, has targeted smoking imagery in video games given their popularity among younger consumers. For example, 62% of esports viewers in the U.S. are 18-34, according to research by consulting firm Activate.
More at the link above.Is there a double standard in keeping the violence while the parties involved congratulate themselves for their anti-smoking stance? For one thing, as the video-game industry has repeatedly noted, there's no evidence of a causal link between violent crime and gaming. Ladetsky said the elimination of smoking doesn't change the nature of the game itself, and he cited research that shows a correlation between higher exposure to tobacco depictions in entertainment and a higher incidence of smoking adoption among younger people. "As you remove these images, it does have an impact," he said.
Memes aside, this is interesting. Seems to be more of a business move to sanitize the game and make it eSports compatible but there's a very good conversation to be had about how media makes tobacco use seem fashionable which can influence young people (tho if you're playing Gears 5 you're most likely of age so I could hardly give a shit). I live in the UK and they crack down on that shit hard, drilling into us the harm smoking does to both you and the people around you. I mean the fucking anti-smoking ads over here are gruesome as fuck.
Hell, this is how our cig packs look.
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