Cyberpunk 2020 Creator: Games are Inherently Political
Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the world of Cyberpunk 2077, spoke on the political elements in video games. He stated that politics is a natural aspect of art, but at the same time is should not resemble sermons.
The presence of political themes in video game has stirred a lot of emotion recently. No wonder that during a GameLab panel discussion, Mike Pondsmith, the creator of Cyberpunk table-top RPG system, was asked for his opinion on this topic. His response was balanced, although he believes he will annoy both sides of the debate.
Pondsmith said that games, as well as art in general, are political by nature. This is due to the fact that the same is true of mankind, which has a natural tendency to create social structures that are beneficial to those at the top and, if we are lucky, to the people below.
According to Pondsmith, audiences nowadays often try to argue that some area of the entertainment industry is not political, because they see such elements as an attack on their own beliefs. However, people only notice this if the message of the game contradicts their opinions. For example, few people complain that in many games as soldiers we blow up buildings in the Middle East, but if we did it as a woman, it could cause a lot of commotion.
However, Pondsmith is opposed to blunt propaganda. He believes that developers must leave players free to interpret the events on screen. Civilisations only develop properly if people are free to draw their own conclusions. He warns that creating works that resemble sermons is the easiest way to make the other side deaf to our arguments.
Pondsmith admits that such free approach is not ideal. Game users often draw different conclusions than the authors would like them to. The solution, however, is a dialogue, not an attempt to force the players to the creators' own beliefs.
