EA Cuts Licensing Ties With Gun Manufacturers

Electronic Arts has announced that it will be severing its licensing ties to gun manufacturers, while asserting its 'right and intention' to feature branded weapons in its shooting games without a license.

It's the latest twist in the ongoing debate about gun violence, and the relationship between firearms manufacturers and video game creators. EA's stance will mean that it will refuse to enter into lucrative licensing agreements with gun makers to prominently feature their models in games like Battlefield.

The mega-publisher had previously entered a deal with McMillan Group and magazine manufacturer Magpul which saw their products featured in Medal of Honor: Warfighter. The move caught a lot of controversy in the press, with suggestions that EA was encouraging players to go out and buy guns.

"We won't do that again," said EA spokesman Jeff Brown. "The action games we will release this year will not include licensed images of weapons."

Of course, the announcement comes following comments from the NRA that puts the blame on gun violence squarely on video games. Brown insists that those comments had nothing to do with the decision. "The response from our audience was pretty clear: they feel the comments from the NRA were a simple attempt to change the subject."

Instead, EA intends to continue using branded guns in its games - without the messy licensing agreements and game-gun tie-ins. It's a move that puts gun companies - those that naturally support the NRA - out of the loop, and one that EA says is its constitutional right in the name of free speech.

Whether the NRA's comments had a part to play in EA's announcement or not, it's clear that the organisation is doing itself no favours in this rather delicate debate. If it's going to fire first and play the blame game, then it probably shouldn't be surprised to see game makers cutting ties with gun companies entirely.

Source: Reuters