We appreciated what we noticed of the SWAT-style shooter Prepared or Not after we obtained our first look at it in 2019. Set in a crumbling and corrupt near-future US, it options gameplay impressed by the unique Rainbow Six and SWAT collection that challenges gamers to “defuse hostile and confronting conditions.” On the time, it was anticipated to launch close to the tip of 2020, however as a substitute it debuted in Early Entry on December 17 of this 12 months.
Just some days after that, nevertheless, developer Void Interactive introduced that it had parted methods with Team17, the writer. “Void Interactive and Team17 have mutually agreed that Team17 will not publish Prepared or Not,” the studio tweeted. “We’re assured that that is the fitting path for the way forward for Prepared or Not, and we thank Team17 for his or her partnership and need them nice success with their spectrum of video games!”
VOID Interactive and Team17 have mutually agreed that Team17 will not publish Prepared or Not. We’re assured that that is the fitting path for the way forward for Prepared or Not, and we thank Team17 for his or her partnership and need them nice success with their spectrum of video games!December 20, 2021
A purpose for the break up wasn’t given, however it occurred just some days after a person within the Prepared or Not subreddit requested if the sport ought to have a “school shooting mission.” In response, a Void Interactive developer replied, “You higher consider it is gonna.” The response has since been deleted, however may be seen through the Wayback Machine.
The widely-held assumption is that Team17 did not suppose a faculty capturing degree was an acceptable thought, and Void Interactive did not wish to let it go. A Void Interactive consultant denied any connection between the break up with Team17 and the deliberate faculty capturing degree, nevertheless.
Void Interactive addressed the problem in an announcement shared on Twitter:
There isn’t a simple solution to tackle this situation with out creating sturdy emotional responses from one group or one other, however we’ll do our greatest. I wish to begin by mentioning a quote from our authentic firm documentation that we now have all the time believed in, proceed to consider in, and that has been identified to anybody who has engaged in enterprise with our firm.
“Void Interactive has a transparent dedication to ship top quality, impactful content material that different mainstream software program builders might shrink back from as a result of cultural conventions and norms. At Void Interactive we worth the voice of our clients and companions and while this is not going to dictate our course, we’ll permit it to well affect what we do. At its core, the sport honors the work of devoted regulation enforcement officers the world over and on no account intends to glorify cowardly felony acts.”
We’re devoted to selling a degree of authenticity and realism in our videogame, Prepared or Not, that carries with it tough subject material. We perceive that this requires a sure duty—to our followers and neighborhood, sure. But in addition to those that have been impacted by the traumatic occasions regulation enforcement all too typically responds to. Relaxation assured, our intention is to deal with all of Prepared or Not’s content material with the extent of weight and respect that it warrants. We now have lately needed to remind sure group members of the required care in discussing this materials now and on an ongoing foundation.
“Faculty” is not only part of Prepared or Not’s story, it’s a part of the material of hundreds of individuals’s tales worldwide. It’s the story of those that have died too quickly by the hands of a deranged gunman, the story of household and associates ready for a telephone name which may by no means come, the story of the primary responders who do the whole lot they’ll just for it to not be sufficient. It’s a have a look at an uncomfortable actuality that has turn into all too frequent, and we hope that we will play some small half in honoring those that have been impacted by these actual world tragedies with a portrayal that doesn’t trivialize their experiences.
We are going to proceed to observe our imaginative and prescient, we’ll proceed to pay attention, and we’ll proceed to work day by day on Prepared or Not. Thanks.
To be clear, this faculty capturing degree would not truly exist at this level—it is all solely hypothetical at this level. And if it ever does come to be, gamers will presumably be intervening in a capturing, not committing it. As we have beforehand seen in Six Days in Fallujah, designing a recreation round a delicate real-life state of affairs is probably the clearest manner for a developer to speak their worldview, which might be scrutinized and criticized. And, normally, videogame recreations of actual life tragedies are going to trigger a robust response. Faculty shootings are common topics for motion pictures and tv exhibits, however an interactive medium is a completely totally different matter.
In a follow-up tweet, Void Interactive reassured followers that it stays dedicated to its imaginative and prescient of “Prepared or Not as a hardcore interactive tactical shooter.” Thus far, the gamers appear to love it: Prepared or Not at the moment enjoys an “overwhelmingly optimistic” score on Steam throughout greater than 8,300 person evaluations.
I’ve reached out to Team17 for remark and can replace if I obtain a reply.