“Politics” and “video games” are often viewed like water and oil, incompatible to the extent that Ubisoft will insist games like Far Cry 6 are politics-free. Many arguments about not wanting politics in games are made in bad faith, as seen when women of color are revealed to star in productions like God of War Ragnarok, but every piece of media has something to say by virtue of its creators. Some are overt about discussing political systems and ideas, such as Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid franchise, and Not For Broadcast is unabashedly in this camp as well.
Not For Broadcast is an FMV game about a show runner for the National Nightly News, a trusted TV program akin to the BBC in an alternate 1980s, where a totalitarian dictatorship come to power. Developer NotGames is a small team of eight full-time employees with roots in TV, film, and theater, but those connections opened the door to over 300 cast and crew that helped Not For Broadcast become a Guinness World Record holder for most FMV in a video game. Game Rant spoke to co-founder Jason “Jay” Orbaum and CEO Andrew “Andy” Murray about their game’s vision and ingrained politics.
Delayed Conclusions
Because NotGames is a small studio based out of England’s affluent Surrey county, the team behind Not For Broadcast wears many hats to reduce costs. Murray handles corporate affairs, owing to his time in sales and software development, but also does video editing, localization, and wrote the “incident” system that tells players about consequences in between levels. The FMV segments were co-written by Alex Paterson and Orbaum, a self-described “lifelong lefty” who also wrote the game’s music.
After teaming with publisher tinyBuild, Not For Broadcast released episodically through Early Access. Episode 1 came out in January 2020, followed by a bonus Lockdown episode that June when filming had to shut down because of COVID-19. Episode 2 released in January 2021, and Episode 3 debuted yesterday; bringing the game to its 1.0 launch.
“What I love about games is you get to use all those disciplines within one art form - that’s the beautiful thing, they require story, acting, emotion, pitch and pause, and they require music.”
Orbaum said stage productions mostly have stories worked out before sitting down, but doing an episodic game can lead to its contents evolving. For example, releasing the contained Lockdown episode showed NotGames that audiences are willing to repeat content if it leads to new secrets, informing its work on Episode 3 with over a dozen epilogues reflecting players’ actions.
It also makes discussing the game with fans difficult. Orbaum and Murray said they try not to “feed the trolls,” but are interested in debating topics — especially political ones — with players who raise genuine points. That’s been harder during the Early Access rollout when people aren’t able to see the game’s full scope without spoilers. “I’ve had a lot of spats with people where I find it’s hard because they’re only two-thirds of the way through the murder mystery book and telling me I love murderers because he hasn’t been caught yet,” Orbaum said.
Not For Broadcast is in The Middle of a Winding Road
The central tenet of Not For Broadcast is “a plague on both your houses,” with NotGames recognizing its bias toward the left, but wanting to tell a story about polarization and “extremist factions” on both sides — ones motivated to help by different means that people can explore and empathize with. Both the government and resistance encourage players to propagandize, but NotGames hopes people unconsciously follow their biases, leading to situations where players talk and realize they saw different stories using the same footage.
Reviews from publications like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun comment on the decision to make Not For Broadcast’s autocratic regime far-left during an era when politicians like Donald Trump and Boris Johnson impact democratic institutions from the other side. Orbaum contends its decision was more creative than political, seeing less fiction tackling “our side” than productions examining authoritarian, often Christian dictatorships like The Handmaid’s Tale. “We don’t want to compete with Margaret Atwood; she’s amazing.”
Leaning into Brave New World with media instead of soma also afforded the writing team a chance to examine potential mistreatment of policies they would support candidates on, such as euthanasia. “Totalitarian states don’t look ugly when you’re in them,” Orbaum said, and he’s interested in how systems like communism go from equality to labor camps. The differences players see go deeper than a basic RPG morality system of good and evil. Each ending can have different ramifications in the epilogues depending on multilayered choices made throughout.
Not For Broadcast’s 80s is Not Like You Remember
Murray recognizes genres aren’t for everyone, and people will avoid Not For Broadcast because they play video games to escape — “which is fair enough.” However, Orbaum feels political themes didn’t hurt shows like House of Cards and The West Wing, and said movements such as Black Lives Matter show young people are drawn to world philosophies; they’d just rather not see establishments tell them what to think.
“We wanted to criticize the extremes. It’s a love letter to balance, to freedom of speech, to decent news.”
Not For Broadcast is made more palatable to modern players. NotGames said its setting is like today with 1980s-era technology (explained by natural disasters that have become a community in-joke). Any racial epithets or slurs are avoided in favor of politically correct language, as Orbaum said being sensitive to avoid unnecessary offense is worthwhile — even in a game that leans into 18+ themes because it revolves around censorship. Idioms and fashion from the 80s are also absent, both to avoid pastiche and help audiences engage with the characters.
“Our sales would suggest the game making people think isn’t putting them off … There are people who really don’t like it, but that’s okay. I’d rather have that type of reaction than come out with a bland, flat pancake and make no ripples.”
Then, of course, the game has plenty of wacky British humor and caricatures that remain poignant examples of the news being devolved into a pointless children’s show. Some may feel the tone swings too wildly, but Murray said it was worth marrying comedy and tragedy. Any half-decent story should work to build and relieve tension with those masks, according to Orbaum, as even real-life funerals can break out in giggles when certain stories come up.
NotGames is determined to never make another title about party politics after three years with Not For Broadcast, but intends to cover heavy subjects with “crazy storylines” in any future project. Compromising ones’ creative vision or making something others want can be “soul-destroying,” Orbaum said, and the team is thankful tinyBuild stuck a limb out for their “weird, out-there game that has grown-up politics and stuff that doesn’t belong.”
Not For Broadcast is available now on PC.
