Not For Broadcast Tackles Political Extremism in an Alternate 1980s Setting

gamerant.com:

«Politics» and «video games» are often viewed like water and oil, incompatible to the extent that Ubisoft will insist games like Far Cry 6 are politics-free. Many arguments about not wanting politics in games are made in bad faith, as seen when women of color are revealed to star in productions like God of War Ragnarok, but every piece of media has something to say by virtue of its creators. Some are overt about discussing political systems and ideas, such as Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid franchise, and Not For Broadcast is unabashedly in this camp as well.

Not For Broadcast is an FMV game about a show runner for the National Nightly News, a trusted TV program akin to the BBC in an alternate 1980s, where a totalitarian dictatorship come to power. Developer NotGames is a small team of eight full-time employees with roots in TV, film, and theater, but those connections opened the door to over 300 cast and crew that helped Not For Broadcast become a Guinness World Record holder for most FMV in a video game. Game Rant spoke to co-founder Jason «Jay» Orbaum and CEO Andrew «Andy» Murray about their game's vision and ingrained politics.

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Because NotGames is a small studio based out of England's affluent Surrey county, the team behind Not For Broadcast wears many hats to reduce costs. Murray handles corporate affairs, owing to his time in sales and software development, but also does video editing, localization, and wrote the «incident» system that tells players about consequences in between levels. The FMV segments were co-written by Alex Paterson and Orbaum, a self-described «lifelong lefty» who also wrote the game's music.

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