The web page for self-styled “realistic” shooter series Medal of Honor no longer links to sites selling real weapons. As part of the promotion for Medal of Honor: Warfighter earlier this year, EA Games partnered with companies like Magpul, McMillan, and other makers and sellers of guns, knives, or tactical gear, putting links to their stores on the game’s page. Though the list of partners is still available, the links have now been removed. An EA spokesperson told the BBC and others that “We felt it was inappropriate and took the links down” in the wake of a school shooting at Newtown, Connecticut.
EA removes links to gun sellers on ‘Medal of Honor’ page
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
The Medal of Honor partner page was discussed somewhat uneasily by gaming press in August, with The Gameological Society calling the move “blatant gun advertising.” Since Newtown, the link between games and violence has once again come under scrutiny: critics of violent games include Senator Jay Rockefeller, who is proposing a study on the effects of gaming on children, and the NRA, which dodged questions about gun regulation by blaming decades-old video game series like Mortal Kombat for the shootings. The Medal of Honor series, like other military shooters, strives for verisimilitude in combat, going so far as to allegedly receive classified info from Navy SEALs (who were later disciplined) for Warfighter. Now, though, the connection with real life it’s trying to evoke may prove a liability.
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