Following the reveal for Far Cry 6, the game’s narrative director had to insist that the game is not a “political statement” against Cuba.
In Far Cry 6, players find themselves in the island of Yara, clearly inspired from Cuba. According to Navid Khavari, the game’s narrative director, the game is not a dig against the Latin American country.
Far Cry team spent a month in Cuba for research
In the new Far Cry, the narrative revolves around a revolution against a brutal Latin dictator in the Caribbean. The island of Yara is culturally similar to Cuba, down to the classic vehicles and even the general architecture.
According to a 2020 interview, not only is the setting inspired by Cuba, it was a solid facsimile. They note how their team lived in the nation for a month, learning the culture and doing research.
In a more recent interview, Khavari details that although everything is faux-Cuba, the game is not a political statement. Rather, he notes that he understands the nuances of the situation from an outsider’s standpoint.
“The original inspiration was Guerilla Warfare and what is that guerilla fantasy, which is obviously tied to revolution,” noted Khavari. “When you talk about guerillas, you think of the guerillas in the 1950s and 1960s, we actually went down there to speak to actual guerilla fighters who fought back then, and we just really fell in love with their stories.”
“But we also fell in love with the culture and people we met. When we came out of that, it wasn’t that we felt we had to do Cuba, we realised it’s a complicated island and our game doesn’t want to make a political statement about what’s happening in Cuba specifically.
“Beyond that, we’re drawing inspiration from guerilla movements around the world and throughout history. For us, it felt like doing the island of Yara would help us tell that story while being very open with our politics and inspiration.”
Ubisoft not new to politicized titles
Far Cry 6 is not the first game that has political connections and controversy within Ubisoft. Many of its games have themes around conspiracy, terrorism, fascism, and government surveillance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v0tf9yfVP8
Ubisoft always insists that these are not political, but they are. The right term, however, is that this kind of politics is not pointed at anyone else. Cuba as a state is a complicated country, with a landscape that felt like it was sealed during the Cold War.
There’s no point in speculating if Far Cry 6 is political or not. It’s up in the air until more people get to play the game.
Featured image courtesy of Ubisoft/Youtube Screenshot