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incethedaysofSyndicateandFallout,gameshave
lovedtohavea digatcapitalism.Ourcorporate
societyis oneofthefivepossibletriggersfora virtual
apocalypse,alongwithzombies,aliens,Nazisandviruses.
Communismmightoccasionallythreatentodestroytheworld,
but it neversucceeds.
Lately,capitalismhasbeeninfora rightkicking.Thepast
few monthshaveseenthereleaseofTheOuterWorldsand
Journey totheSavagePlanet.Botharefirst-personsci-figames
about exploringdistantplanets,andbothhave
got it in forlarge,oppressivecorporations.
In TheOuterWorlds,oneplanetisrunbya
companycalledSpacer’sChoice,anditspolicies
includes forcingemployeestoleasetheirown
grave plots,andforcingtheirfriendsand
colleaguestocovertheirfuneralcostswhen
they die. Meanwhile, Journey to the Savage Planet’s Kindred
Aerospace treats its employees as expendable property, sending
you out on dangerous missions with almost no equipment, and
forcing you to cobble together your own survival plan.
In addition to these similarities, both games’ satirical humour
is largely ineffective, with only surface-deep criticism. In Savage
Planet, the hyperactive adverts for rubbish products and vaguely
sociopathic messages from your CEO all happen at a distance
from the actual meat of the game; you could ignore it entirely
and your experience really wouldn’t change.
The Outer Worlds, meanwhile, is keen to point out all the
horrible events that occur in its society as a result of its runaway
capitalism – the Spacer’s Choice mascot forced to wear a suffocating
helmet for his entire life, and the colonists being slowly poisoned

bytheonlyfoodavailabletothem.However,it neverdelves into

therootcausesofallthesuffering.It’salldefinitelythe fault of

capitalism,butnobody’sabletosaywhy.

Thenagain,thegameindustryroutinelyforcesitsemployees

towork80-hourweeksformonthsonend,thenlaysthem off

oncea projectiscomplete.It’shardlysurprisingthat games

can’tproducea coherentargumentforwhya corporatised

societymightnotbegood.Designersareroutinelygagged by

punitivenon-disclosureagreementsintendedtoprevent them

fromleakinginformationaboutnewgames, but

whichalsomakeit difficultforthemto discuss

workingpracticesina particularcompany.

Forlargestudios,thisofteninvolves doing

monthsof‘crunch’– longperiodsofadditional

hoursthatoftenleadstomentalandsometimes

physicalhealthproblems.

Some recent indie games offer better examples of how games

can criticise capitalism. Kentucky Route Zero shows us how

companies exploit social and religious work ethics, mandating

that a basic standard of living must be earned while also eroding

existing employment structures from local communities.

The fantastic Disco Elysium, meanwhile, shows us how

capitalism feeds on hope. One of the buildings you explore is

a gravesite for almost a dozen failed businesses, all of which

were created with the best of intentions and failed because

of circumstances beyond their control.

For any satire to work, it needs to be specific about its targets,

and the reasons why they should be the object of criticism or

derision. Otherwise, such jokes ring hollow, and come off as

paying lip service to ideas the creators don’t really believe.

Games

Rick Lane is Custom PC’s games editor @Rick_Lane

RICKLANE/INVERSELOOK

CAPITALIST PUNISHMENT

Some games love anti-capitalist satire, but Rick Lane asks if such a

fundamentally corporate industry can say much of note about capitalism

It’s all definitely the fault

of capitalism, but nobody

is able to say why