Homefront Aims to Encourage Intellectual Debate

A game developer working on the upcoming Homefront first person shooter has stated that he believes controversy built around games like his own or Medal of Honor is something positive as long as it generates actual fact-based debate and not just condemnation.

Talking to Destructiod, Dave Votypka, who is the general manager of Kaos Studios, has stated, “When you’re dealing with portraying real events, with real people that the public currently has a personal and emotional attachment to, there are sensitivities there that need to be respected and avoided.”

He then emphasized the fact that any video game remained in the realm of fiction, allowing it to tackle matters that other mediums might not be interested in.

In relation to coverage of Homefront, the developer added that “getting talked about in mainstream media is good for product awareness, but you don’t want it to be critical or inaccurate. If the result is a discussion of the fictional ideas and intellectual debate, that’s fine and healthy.”

He says that Frontlines, the previous shooter from the studio, was built around the idea of an oil shortage and around the lengths that superpowers were ready to go to in order to secure resources.

Homefront is premised on the idea that, in the near future, North Korea invades its southern neighbor, reunites the country and arms itself to conquer Japan and to assault the United States themselves, crippled from inside by an economic crisis.

The premise might seem to be too close to the current reality of increased conflict between North and South Korea.

The game will focus on those who are fighting back against the North Korean occupation.

Homefront has been repeatedly delayed by publisher THQ and is now set to arrive on the PC, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 on March 8, 2011 and the usual three days later in Europe.