Electronic Arts (EA) has reportedly removed all links to gun shops from the official Medal of Honor: Warfighter website. Although logos and descriptions associated with the weaponry remain, the links are no longer working.
BBC News explains the decision to remove the content from the EA website was likely a response to the National Rifle Association’s declaration that video games were responsible for the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting. Since Electronic Arts doesn’t want to give the NRA fuel for the fire, the links were soon removed from the site.
“We felt it was inappropriate and took the links down,” a representative from Electronic Arts explained to The New York Times . The spokesperson added the offending content was removed as soon as it was discovered.
The company explained that its decision to use authentic weaponry in Medal of Honor: Warfighter was essentially no different than Hollywood studios using mock-ups of real life guns in movies. The EA representative explained the company hadn’t received compensation from manufacturers to use their products in Warfighter .
The official website for the game still sports around 14 logos for various military equipment manufacturers. However, the ability to search for guns, knives, and other gear has been removed from the Medal of Honor site .
Given the controversy that suddenly sprung up around the video game industry in the past few days, it’s not entirely shocking that Electronic Arts is attempting to put some distance between its Medal of Honor franchise and the gun industry. NRA vice president Wayne LaPierre was quick to point the finger of blame at violent games last week.
“There exists in this country, sadly, a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells and stows violence against its own people,” LaPierre said at his controversial press conference.
What do you think about EA’s decision to remove gun shop links from the Medal of Honor: Warfighter website?
