Far Cry 4 creative director comments on controversial box art

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May 20, 2014

Some controversy has emerged over the box art for Far Cry 4, prompting Ubisoft creative director Alex Hutchinson to comment on the matter in the hopes of clearing things up.

The box art, which is one of only two images released for the game so far, appears to show a white man sitting on the ruined remains of a statue while holding his hand on the head of a darker-skinned man. This has generated discussion over whether the game--or at least its box art, which is all the public has to go on at this point--could be racist. But according to Hutchinson, at least one of the criteria people have used to level criticism at the artwork is incorrect.

"Just so it's clear for those jumping to conclusions: He's not white and that's not the player," Hutchinson tweeted, adding a linking to a GamesIndustry.biz piece about the controversy over the box art.

This isn't the first time the issue of racism has come up with regard to a Far Cry game. Far Cry 3, which featured a caucasian protagonist who saves the inhabitants of a tropical island from a group of pirates, was criticized for being racist, as well as its use of torture. The game's writer, Jeffrey Yohalem, claimed in an interview with Rock, Paper, Shotgun that critics were simply missing the point.

We learned today, courtesy of a leak on Ubisoft's online store, that Far Cry 4 players assume the role of a character named Ajay Ghale who gets involved with a civil war in the country of Kyrat. Beyond that, we know almost nothing except that the game will feature "a lot more multiplayer" than its predecessor and that it'll be out on November 18 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.