Warhorse Studios’ debut game, Kingdom Come: Deliverance was involved in controversy prior to release regarding the general lack of diversity in the game. Criticism was raised against the lack of diversity in the title. The developers defended their decision by citing historical accuracy, which was a major marketing angle of the game.
Kingdom Come is set in 15th Century Bohemia, specifically in 1403, and save for the Turkic Cumans, who appear as enemies, is populated solely by white characters. Additionally, the game’s few female characters are only given minor roles. At the time of the controversy, these decisions were defended by claims that 15th Century Bohemia didn’t have a non-white population, and that during that period, gender inequality prevented women from holding positions of administrative power.
Daniel Várva, co-founder of Warhorse Studios and one of the writers for the game was at the center of the controversy and spoke about the topic at a developer event in Croatia, Reboot Develop. Várva outspokenly criticised the media’s handling of the controversy, claiming that certain outlets quoted non-existant historians and did not engage in conversation.
“It all started without anyone asking us for an opinion. All of a sudden there were articles on the internet, nobody asked us about what they were writing - which is not very good journalism, I would say. Most of the articles were written in a way that was like ‘it didn’t happen, but it could happen.”
Várva’s political views, as well as his association with the hate group GamerGate were also brought to attention during the controversy, and some critics theorized that the game will be tailored to be a vehicle for his political views. Várva’s Twitter and YouTube accounts were also cited by people who were concerned that the lack of diversity in the game stemmed from a reason other than the historical accuracy that was claimed.
“I wrote ten per cent of the game. Six other people wrote it with me. There’s an anarchist sitting with me in the office, there are liberal guys sitting with me in the office. So it has no propaganda because there are more people with the opposite political views to what I have in the same office. We didn’t kill each other, we’re able to cooperate so it’s ridiculous.”
Ultimately, Kingdom Come: Deliverance did not suffer for the controversy in terms of sales, having sold more than one million copies within two weeks. If anything, it may even have helped based on a number of Steam reviews, with many clamming to have purchased the game due to the criticisms regarding diversity.
