Crytek Will Leave Germany if Violent Game Ban is Passed
Crytek Will Leave Germany if Violent Game Ban is Passed
August 5, 2009
Far Cry and Crysis developer Crytek has renewed threats to leave Germany if a proposed ban on violent video games is passed. As GamePolitics noted in June, the recommendation by German interior ministers would impose a total ban on the production and distribution of violent games.
Edge Online has comment from Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli (left) on what the unprecedented government action would mean for his company:
A ban on action games in Germany is concerning us because it is essentially like banning the German artists that create them. If the German creative community can't effectively participate in one of the most important cultural mediums of our future, we will be forced to relocate to other countries.
The current political discussion will deprive German talent of its place on the global game development stage, and deprive German consumers of entertainment that is considered safe and fun around the world.
How extreme is the anti-game sentiment in certain quarters of the German government? So extreme that in 2004, a SWAT team raided Crytek's offices. Crytek developer Tim Partlett described the scene:
In 2004 the Bavarian authorities sent in the state troopers... When the small tech team appeared to inspect our computers, they were accompanied by over one hundred flak-jacketed riot police, all armed with Heckler and Koch sub-machine guns.
It was a total overreaction... They arrived first thing in the morning, and kicked down our doors. They even raided the nearby private residences...
I was caught just outside the office... We were all shepherded into our Mo-Cap room, and there we were forced to remain until questioned, prevented from leaving by dozens of armed guards...
More than 60,000 Germans have signed a petition against the ban, triggering a mandatory government review of the proposal.
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Posted 11/20/09 at 05:42pm
ZippyDSMlee: oh may the cute stab out your eyes, http://www.youtube.com/user/simonscat
ZippyDSMlee: oh may the cute stab out your eyes, http://www.youtube.com/user/simonscat
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:17pm
JDKJ: O.K. Suit yourself. But when you're wearing Ray-Bans, sitting on a curb with a white cane and a cup of pencils, and doing Stevie Wonder impersonations, don't say I didn't warn you.
JDKJ: O.K. Suit yourself. But when you're wearing Ray-Bans, sitting on a curb with a white cane and a cup of pencils, and doing Stevie Wonder impersonations, don't say I didn't warn you.
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:10pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No thank you I don;t want your cooties...or STDs...
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No thank you I don;t want your cooties...or STDs...
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:01pm
JDKJ: Me. I'm rehearsing the role just in case I do get dubbed Zippy The Soecnda.
JDKJ: Me. I'm rehearsing the role just in case I do get dubbed Zippy The Soecnda.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:59pm
DarkSaber: Wait, is that meant to be Zippy, me or you?
DarkSaber: Wait, is that meant to be Zippy, me or you?
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:49pm
JDKJ: I cud caer lez. =^^= *wakes up in mid-afternoon after staying up until 3:00AM soldering resistors on to circuit boards, stumbles around in formerly white but now grey underwear, while simultaneously scratching groin with vigor and making coffee*
JDKJ: I cud caer lez. =^^= *wakes up in mid-afternoon after staying up until 3:00AM soldering resistors on to circuit boards, stumbles around in formerly white but now grey underwear, while simultaneously scratching groin with vigor and making coffee*
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:46pm
DarkSaber: knell? Don't you mean Neil? Anymore of tht and I'll dub thee Zippy The Soecnda
DarkSaber: knell? Don't you mean Neil? Anymore of tht and I'll dub thee Zippy The Soecnda
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:44pm
JDKJ: Now, now, Saber. Don't be salty. You weren't the first one to knell and bob and you ain't gonna be the last one, either.
JDKJ: Now, now, Saber. Don't be salty. You weren't the first one to knell and bob and you ain't gonna be the last one, either.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:42pm
DarkSaber: JD's feeling rather desperate it seems.
DarkSaber: JD's feeling rather desperate it seems.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:33pm
JDKJ: C'mon, Zip. You already touch yourself way too much. Spread the love. Before you go blind.
JDKJ: C'mon, Zip. You already touch yourself way too much. Spread the love. Before you go blind.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No and I ain't touching any part of you or your friends!! :P
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No and I ain't touching any part of you or your friends!! :P
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:25pm
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Lik Mitaint?
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Lik Mitaint?
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
ZippyDSMlee: neill and bob,oldest giveing head joke and most lamest...
ZippyDSMlee: neill and bob,oldest giveing head joke and most lamest...
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
JDKJ: But thanks for the memory. MIB's a classic. *sings* "Here come the Men in Black. Galaxy defenders. Here come the Men in Black. They won't let you remember."
JDKJ: But thanks for the memory. MIB's a classic. *sings* "Here come the Men in Black. Galaxy defenders. Here come the Men in Black. They won't let you remember."
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:for the record I told you you can suck your own dck.
ZippyDSMlee: JD:for the record I told you you can suck your own dck.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:07pm
JDKJ: Naw, man. That's Mueedeegiaap and Bob. And you can stop bobbing. I got Zippy bobbing now, too.
JDKJ: Naw, man. That's Mueedeegiaap and Bob. And you can stop bobbing. I got Zippy bobbing now, too.
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:56pm
DarkSaber: OH I get it now! It's Men In Black quote! The twins that run the comm centre in HQ.
DarkSaber: OH I get it now! It's Men In Black quote! The twins that run the comm centre in HQ.
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:49pm
JDKJ: I'd like to introduce you to them. First, Neil. Then, Bob.
JDKJ: I'd like to introduce you to them. First, Neil. Then, Bob.
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:47pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:I know they are intimate friends of yours...
ZippyDSMlee: JD:I know they are intimate friends of yours...
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:44pm
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Neil and Bob?
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Neil and Bob?
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Comments
Nice going Germany, you're a shining example to all!
Seriously, my country is still using its police for silly tasks, like raiding drug cartels, weapons smugglers, and all the rest of it, when they should be focusing on the source of all crime... pimple-faced teens and bored businessmen.
And they'll be losing more business if their laws don't make it accessible to produce and sell many video games.
GameSnooper
So what was the reason for the 2004 raid? You dont get that many men together without some reasoning, even if it's false.
I wouldn't be surprised if they just sent the police to pick up whatever they can; anything to prove how "dastardly" game developers are.
yeah over reacting much? These are just game developers, were 100 armed police really necessary?
Well they have extensive knowledge on weaponry and tatics... they have to be, they're the ones making murder simulators. Only exeprience ppl can make that kind of intense and realistic simulations, they should of been shot on sight.
Because someone claimed that they would be using pirated software. Which they didn't.
Their claim was that Crytek was using pirated software. Which was obviously a straight-up lie so that they would have an excuse to rough up the Crytek employees a bit, put a bit of fear of the government in them.
oh ya... pirated software... ya, sounds like a reason to use a 100 man riot squad... i figured they would need for something like, y'know, a riot... or poeple that were armed in any such fashion
Great, one day they'll find out you have an emulator on your computer and then you get raided by a swat team.
---
I once had a dream about God. In it, he was looking down upon the planet and the havoc we recked and he said unto us, "Damn Kids get off my lawn!"
No kidding.
"...they were accompanied by over one hundred flak-jacketed riot police, all armed with Heckler and Koch sub-machine guns."
100 Police officers wearing flak jackets, sporting H&K manufactured MP5's? That's taking it over the top.
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Papa Midnight
http://www.thesupersoldiers.com
Crytek...COME TO CHARLOTTE. We NEED more game developers here!
"HEY! LISTEN!"
You mean to say that they've stayed in Germany, despite the 04 incident? I hadn't heard of the incedent before this, but still...
Germany, you are one lucky country, to pull crap like that and not have them relocate.
It was for use of unlicensed software heres the original post about it http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=31767
Edit: This was ment to be a reply to the person above asking what the cause of the raid was, apparently I have failed again ><
Sig heil!
Is it ironic that they've turned into nazis in an attempt to create a reality where nazis didn't exist?
---You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.
Exactly
You are not even able to write it without a spelling mistake...
Did I offend your German sensibilities, or your Nazi sensibilities?
I think the point he was trying to make is, that it were nice if people checked with an online dictionary, before typing gibberish that vaguely reads like something.
All that fuss over a missing E? No. The missing E was just an excuse to talk back at me.
Godwin
They're Godwinning themselves.
"That's not ironic. That's justice."
LOL
I'm pretty sure some trade agreements are broken if such a ban would be placed. This would go to the European Courts if passed.
Yeah, were I in charge of things at Crytek, I wouldn't play that crap. I would have relocated immediately after the SWAT incident.
"In 2004 the Bavarian authorities sent in the state troopers... When the small tech team appeared to inspect our computers, they were accompanied by over one hundred flak-jacketed riot police, all armed with Heckler and Koch sub-machine guns."
How the FUCK do you NOT Godwin that? I'd like to try, but I fear I don't have the fortitude to do so.
-Ultimately what will do in mankind is a person's fear of their own freedom-
Dude, don't worry about Godwin's Law. When the police start acting like Nazis, call them out on it. 100 police with SMGs against unarmed civilians that haven't done anything wrong is an action that screams "We're Nazis."
"That's not ironic. That's justice."
Interesting given that I was just playing Far Cry Instincts before I read this.
They better start packing then, as Germany is so desperate to cover up their past ,they have forgotten it.
Canada will welcome you with open arms!!!
Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy! Stop supporting big media and furthering the criminalization of consumers!! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
If Crytek leaves Germany, is there anyway we can ship Uwe Boll back in their place?
You, sir, win 20 internets.
Im surprised they haven't left yet.
http://www.magicinkgaming.com/
wat
Crytek, get out of there. There are plenty of better places to develop in.
Maryland welcomes you.
Current Residents (In no particular order): Bethesda Softworks, Day 1 Studios, BreakAway Games, Electric Sheep Company, EA Mythic, Big Huge Games, etc.
----
Papa Midnight
http://www.thesupersoldiers.com
Hey why don't you come to Asutralia....
Hmm I guess I can't talk because of the internet filter that now targets games, yay.
Well, if they came here they'd still be limited to making at least M-rated games if they wanted to sell locally.
I'm not sure what a humble Australian resident like myself can do about this whole thing. It's not like I've had any affect on our own foolish ratings system. I think my own little protest will come in the form of Germany not getting any of my tourist dollars if this ban goes through. So far I've only spent three days of my life in the beautiful city of Berlin and I'm determined to see more of the country and the people some time in the near future.
Well, maybe that's a bad solution. The German government is adversely affecting its gamer's lives and I don't think it should also affect mine.
I've been waiting for this response from Crytek.
Only in Germany can you raid the office of a game developer with machine guns and not get sued, fired, or arrested. Funny how little has changed there in the past 70 years. Maybe next they'll start rounding up game developers and putting them into "rehabilitation camps".
All I gotta say is God bless America
> All I gotta say is God bless America.
Especially the US. Come to us. We're the land that's trying to keep it secret that women have nipples, too. ;) But nobody's complaining.
Schadenfreude? You really went there?
I despair.... Right, I'm outta here. Please do us all a favour and never leave your nation's borders.
It isn't the violence that plagues Germany's past, it's the brainwashability of the residents. German citizens, stop acting like unthinking sheep.
Good on Crytek.
You patronising, jingoistic fuck.
Same goes for the rest of you "yankee redneck" cunts all so eager to pull out the "Nazi" lable. Call yourselves free thinkers? You should be ashamed.
First off, MrKlorox may not even be from the US.
Second, how do you expect people to react to Germany sending 100 lethally(and I mean really lethal) armed riot squad guys into a game dev's office? As if it's a common, everyday occurrance? Because it kind of isn't.
Perhaps without resorting to outdated and, quite frankly, offensive stereotypes. That's not even the current topic, anyway.
How do you think our German cousins feel every time there's a story on this topic, a bunch of geographically-challenged posters make vast, sweeping and inaccurate generalisations about their country?
As an American I can say that we are pretty used to vast, sweeping, inaccurate generalisations about our country. And frankly if we as some of us so often do, fall into one of these stereotypes we should be called out on it.
Some stupid yankee rednecks killed some dogs post 9/11 because of the dog's breed. The Afghan Hound. Those are stupid yankee rednecks.
Heavily armed German soliders storming an unarmed civilian business is rather Nazi.
So don't demand that a stereotype be used, rather rise above it.
-Ultimately what will do in mankind is a person's fear of their own freedom-
I expect people to not act like a singular event from four years ago (sorry, time flies, five years ago) was a common, everyday occurance in Germany. Because it kind of isn't.
Then again, I also expected people not to post stupid shit about upcoming German prison camps, when they're probably from the US, a country that runs one at this very moment, and I didn't get that right either.
So please, by all means, continue. Me and my country aren't the ones that are going to look stupid for it.
It's not the fact that it is or isn't a common occurence, it's the fact that it happened at all when in all rights it shouldn't have.
As to the US having a prison camp, this is for war criminals while the German camps were for those of the same country. Of course we have had prison camps for our own citizens at times (WWII and Americans of Japanese lineage), but that is neither here no there. We're talking about how the goverment is abusing its own citizens, an act that is common with the Nazi regime that orginated from Germany.
Also, since you live there, YOU should be the one most upset about the way your goverment in acting.
---
I once had a dream about God. In it, he was looking down upon the planet and the havoc we recked and he said unto us, "Damn Kids get off my lawn!"
As to the US having a prison camp, this is for war criminals while the German camps were for those of the same country.
Ah, I forgot. It's OK, to imprison random people without charge as long as they're foreigners. Right.
Call me evil. But I hope this ban actually happens. I call it trial and error. Let Germany see what happens with this move. Let them see that it doesn't affect whatever problems they think they are fixing.
Hmmmm.... Using real violence coupled with extreme intimation to stop virtual violence - Nice one from the German government. They must be using the W playbook of public policy.
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"The most difficult pain a man can suffer is to have knowledge of much and power over little" - Herodotus
See, if violent games didn't exist then the government wouldn't have sent 100 smg armed riot police to rough up civilians XD
Has anyone made a Flash game parodying this event yet? The irony of that would be Teh Awesome.
And I thought that my country Australia was bad.....
Germany is becoming like Nazi Germany but instead of targeting Jews, they are trying to put all of society's ills on all Game developers and even gamers too...
There comes a time when you realize that the government is not going to listen to anything you guys try to say, and my advice is that you german gamers and game developers must go to another country like Austria or Switzerland where you could at least live in a bit of freedom.
And if you are lucky to learn a bit of English and French, then move to Canada and you game developers will be in heaven.
As for me being an Australian, if they are going to ban Videogames on the internet, then I am going to Canada to live in freedom, not Australia where I am living in a "pretend" free country.
I remember how many people in my country often said to me that you should be lucky to live in a free country, but if you are a gamer or even an Otaku who likes the Japanese Dating Sims, then THAT is when you find out how free you really are.
So, desperately trying to not return to their pre-WW2 ways, they are promoting book burning?
How on Earth does that make sense?
Dear Crytek,
Come to Houston, TX please. You will not find a better economy to florish in and your building lease will be far cheaper than any other city.
Germany.... wow... what a fuck up.
Holy crap, this is the first time I heard about the raid. I would've gotten outta there ASAP after that one. These guys got some balls if they're willing to stick around when you have a swat team raiding your business
China ... Check
Cuba ... Check
Australia ... Check
Great Britian ... Check
Germany ... Check
France ... Check
United States ... Almost
It won't be long now.
---
I once had a dream about God. In it, he was looking down upon the planet and the havoc we recked and he said unto us, "Damn Kids get off my lawn!"