Many play games to forget the harsh realities of life and indulge in some good old fashioned escapism, but Sports Interactive isn’t having any of that nonsense.
The developer of the Football Manager series is gearing up for a new instalment to launch on November 4, and wants to ensure you don’t forget the current political climate in which you’re playing your video game.
That is to say, the upcoming Football Manager 2017 will come with a built-in Brexit simulator, creating virtual consequences that will affect in-game decisions and developments.
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Speaking to The Telegraph, Studio Director at Sports Interactive, Miles Jacobson, explained the reasoning behind the move.
“We usually try and keep politics out of the game because nobody wants it rammed down their throat,” he said.
“But we were left with an interesting situation this year when the people of Britain voted to leave the EU and it wouldn’t have felt right to leave that out. It’s something we had to reflect in the game.
Jacobson and his team carried out extensive research after deciding to include Brexit in the game, with the studio lead explaining how they spoke to politicians, ‘people in football’, and read as much as possible to create the simulator.
The result is a simulator that can produce several different outcomes, from a soft to a hard Brexit, with three main scenarios that will affect gameplay: Soft Brexit, footballers being given special exemptions, and Hard Brexit.
One possible outcome of Brexit in Football Manager 2017
Soft Brexit will retain the free movement of workers, the special exemption outcome will make it easier for foreign players to obtain work permits, and Hard Brexit will mean the same rules applied to non-EU players will be applied to EU players.
“We… have included every possible outcome in the game, using artificial intelligence and percentage chances to make every game different,” added Jacobson.
The system goes much deeper, too, with possible scenarios involving Scottish or Irish independence, which will further impact gameplay.
It looks like this year’s instalment of Football Manager might just be the most detailed and complex yet, which has us excited to get our hands on the game when it launches next month.
Football Manager 2017 will be released on November 4 on PC, Mac, and Linux with a mobile version for iOS and Android devices set for release on November 17.
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Let us know what you think of Football Manager’s Brexit simulator in the comments.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
