As a trans man of Arab descent working in the gaming industry, this documentary feels incredibly timely and necessary. The way games shape narratives about marginalized communities-especially Arab ones-and their ties to the military-industrial complex is something I’ve often thought about but rarely seen addressed so thoroughly. Thank you for creating this and bringing these crucial conversations to the forefront. It’s a reminder of the work we still need to do in this industry to foster genuine representation and accountability. Amazing work!
28:40 That section is super interesting to me because I saw all of the very same points and it bothered me so much that I spent the last three years trying to come up with an alternate game design, one that encourages conscious growth, shows the price of exploitation and doesnt encourage extermination. I am actually writing my master thesis on the problem with this 4x design and how it mirrors our real world understanding of an endlessly exploitable earth right now. Im thrilled to see someone else put these observations into such concise words as well! All in all I got to say that this is a really good informative video, great job at putting this intersection of cultural issues together so well!
Its still over a year until then but Ill be sure to come back in time. One more thing I wanted to add: I was surprised to see that this was supposedly an "amateur" docu and that there wasnt more material from you on the channel! I hope that changes, it was really good!
Beautiful, tragic, and informative. This was an amazing piece, and hit on a lot of uncomfortable feelings I've had with the industry. Much like Hollywood, this incentive structures in funding determine what gets made. However, because of the interactive nature games as an art form, there is more of a responsibility on developers to think about the messages sent to players that engage with and actively participate in their games.
what an incredible video filled with important voices. thank you so much for putting it together. we really do need more of THIS energy in the gaming industry.
mad respect for this documentary, hope it gets in front of the eyes of developers that can critically think about the games they're creating and have the influence to rethink their messaging.
This is amazing, we need so many game devs and creatives as a whole to watch this and start making games more responsibly. It truly hits the point that everything is political, so the faster we understand and accept this point, the faster we're able to humanise the MENA region and normalise our existence as people that deserve a right to exist
My friend, even if you make a message as loud and clear as possible, it would still fly over their heads. They have no interest in understanding nuance unless it's to support their perception. These are relatively young people who were never taught to think critically. Critical thinking has been seen as an innate human trait by parents who are too busy to teach their children about the world. Nothing will change unless parents actually have the time to raise their children, media cannot do that, only real human connection can. Unfortunately we live in a world that has successfully replaced that for superficial content mills that trick your brain into thinking it's getting what it needs. It's human exploitation at an extraordinary scale. No wonder then that trying to get these messages across fall on deaf ears, and why companies are so hesitant to do anything at all.
Art is often a wider reflection of the worldview imposed on us. Celebrities, politicians, and the news taught these devs Islamophobia. If we’re going to stop the problem, we should combat the root of it.
Around 47:30 Rami mentions Deus Ex and then I remembered the sequel Mankind Divided. It got me thinking how the sequel to a really good successful game that improved mechanically in almost every way was critical of apartheid and then got tanked by the media.
i could never really stomach games with such careless celebration of violence, when I was a kid and I was invited over to play call of duty and the like it always made me feel a pit in my stomach. i always just made the excuse "I don't want to play, I'm just bad at first person shooters" cuz I didn't know how to put it into words once I got older and drew the parallels to how ppl casually talk about "the IMMIGRANTS" or "the TERRORISTS", a good chunk of the "war fps" genre was p much dead to me.
This is such an important video and I appreciate how much time you spent developing each section and fleshing it out with interviews. Games are always political and they offer us such an important opportunity to have a cultural/social impact.
There were some sign of movement in the video game industry, french game workers union talked about the issue and has been heavily repressed on this topic in some studios
If this video isn't just good enough on the merit of highlighting the genocide in Gaza and all of Palestine's grief, the racist and orientalist views on Arab culture as a whole; it's also a necessary viewing for anyone who views gaming as a worthy form of art. It's a conversation not discussed nearly enough in gaming spaces that focus way too much on the consumer aspect (which matters but is selling the medium short).
Okay this is a new channel with a big video let's go. IMPORTANT AS HELL TOPIC GIVEN HOW OFTEN MAINSTREAM GAMING reeeeevels in outright imperialism and denial of its effects still being a major driver of conflict
Its like this video comes 20 years too late, nowadays gamers are more concerned about woke/DEI games, you have allready lost the culture war a long time ago, the only thing left is this kind of meaningless virtue signaling. But I guess you can make a career out of that.
Don't dismiss "historical accuracy". You are not gonna like it when the historical accuracy of this conflict is fabricated, and then YOU are going to be the ones decrying that historical inaccuracy in Call of Duty.
we've already seen call of duty attempting to rewrite history, claiming the highway of death was perpetuated by russia, when it was actually the united states. there is a big difference between putting a minority in as a skin for a multiplayer mode and attempting to shift the blame of a real-world attack on civillians.
whatever happened to not judging a book by its cover? and if you think "blood on our controllers" is a clickbaity title then maybe watch the whole thing to see what point its trying to make and at least they are speaking about it rather than just watching and talking shit about it with no introspection while being on the fence, like some people...
Tons of games have been successful by paying attention to what they convey with their design. The gaming industry will absolutely not go out of business by doing so :)
"man i really don't like the fact that this one restaurant says it serves everyone, but charges a particular group of people more than others, and nobody is addressing that so I think i should do it" "OH SO YOU WANT EVERY RESTUARANT TO GET OUT OF BUSINESS" please grow a frontal lobe.
As a trans man of Arab descent working in the gaming industry, this documentary feels incredibly timely and necessary.
The way games shape narratives about marginalized communities-especially Arab ones-and their ties to the military-industrial complex is something I’ve often thought about but rarely seen addressed so thoroughly.
Thank you for creating this and bringing these crucial conversations to the forefront. It’s a reminder of the work we still need to do in this industry to foster genuine representation and accountability.
Amazing work!
Thank you so much
🍉✊🏽🌈
✊
28:40 That section is super interesting to me because I saw all of the very same points and it bothered me so much that I spent the last three years trying to come up with an alternate game design, one that encourages conscious growth, shows the price of exploitation and doesnt encourage extermination. I am actually writing my master thesis on the problem with this 4x design and how it mirrors our real world understanding of an endlessly exploitable earth right now. Im thrilled to see someone else put these observations into such concise words as well!
All in all I got to say that this is a really good informative video, great job at putting this intersection of cultural issues together so well!
I'd love to read your thesis when it's done!
Very interesting subject, would love to know more!
I would like to sign up to knowing more about the thesis when done.
Its still over a year until then but Ill be sure to come back in time.
One more thing I wanted to add: I was surprised to see that this was supposedly an "amateur" docu and that there wasnt more material from you on the channel! I hope that changes, it was really good!
i'm only 22 minutes in and i really appreciate how quickly this cuts to the chase. really, really good work. thank you.
Stellar video, huge ups to Rami for sharing this on bluesky, might have missed it otherwise.
Thank you!!
Love for Rami and Meg. This is a seminal piece of documentary.
Beautiful, tragic, and informative. This was an amazing piece, and hit on a lot of uncomfortable feelings I've had with the industry. Much like Hollywood, this incentive structures in funding determine what gets made. However, because of the interactive nature games as an art form, there is more of a responsibility on developers to think about the messages sent to players that engage with and actively participate in their games.
Thank you
Thank you and bravo for putting this necessary video together ! 🙏
Kojima tackled all these problems with MGS and no one listened
what an incredible video filled with important voices. thank you so much for putting it together. we really do need more of THIS energy in the gaming industry.
Thank you so much!
mad respect for this documentary, hope it gets in front of the eyes of developers that can critically think about the games they're creating and have the influence to rethink their messaging.
Thank you thank you
This is amazing, we need so many game devs and creatives as a whole to watch this and start making games more responsibly. It truly hits the point that everything is political, so the faster we understand and accept this point, the faster we're able to humanise the MENA region and normalise our existence as people that deserve a right to exist
Thank you for your words
My friend, even if you make a message as loud and clear as possible, it would still fly over their heads. They have no interest in understanding nuance unless it's to support their perception. These are relatively young people who were never taught to think critically. Critical thinking has been seen as an innate human trait by parents who are too busy to teach their children about the world. Nothing will change unless parents actually have the time to raise their children, media cannot do that, only real human connection can. Unfortunately we live in a world that has successfully replaced that for superficial content mills that trick your brain into thinking it's getting what it needs. It's human exploitation at an extraordinary scale. No wonder then that trying to get these messages across fall on deaf ears, and why companies are so hesitant to do anything at all.
Thank you so much for making this documentary!
this is so important I really appreciate your work on this. It affected me and im sure it will many others
Art is often a wider reflection of the worldview imposed on us. Celebrities, politicians, and the news taught these devs Islamophobia. If we’re going to stop the problem, we should combat the root of it.
Around 47:30 Rami mentions Deus Ex and then I remembered the sequel Mankind Divided. It got me thinking how the sequel to a really good successful game that improved mechanically in almost every way was critical of apartheid and then got tanked by the media.
wow wow wow. fantastic documentary. really dont have the words to describe just how important this video is.
Thank you so much for this!!!
Thank you for putting this together, a much needed documentation
Thanks!!
Great documentary. Great job. Hope it will help spread the message.
Thank you :))
Absolutely phenomenal. So glad this exists ❤
Thank you so much
i could never really stomach games with such careless celebration of violence, when I was a kid and I was invited over to play call of duty and the like it always made me feel a pit in my stomach.
i always just made the excuse "I don't want to play, I'm just bad at first person shooters" cuz I didn't know how to put it into words
once I got older and drew the parallels to how ppl casually talk about "the IMMIGRANTS" or "the TERRORISTS", a good chunk of the "war fps" genre was p much dead to me.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you
❤
This is such an important video and I appreciate how much time you spent developing each section and fleshing it out with interviews. Games are always political and they offer us such an important opportunity to have a cultural/social impact.
There were some sign of movement in the video game industry, french game workers union talked about the issue and has been heavily repressed on this topic in some studios
Absolutely true, french union fought hard to have their voices heard on this.
great stuff thanks for making this!
Great vid, Respect 👊
excellent video, but for some reason its not showing up with the search function.
Great documentary, thanking for spreading the message of humanizing Palestinians
thank you so mush for this ✊✊
thank you man you have heart
It was a bit quiet at the game awards.
thank you for this
Thanks for this video
Thanks for this powerful work
Thank you!!
If this video isn't just good enough on the merit of highlighting the genocide in Gaza and all of Palestine's grief, the racist and orientalist views on Arab culture as a whole; it's also a necessary viewing for anyone who views gaming as a worthy form of art. It's a conversation not discussed nearly enough in gaming spaces that focus way too much on the consumer aspect (which matters but is selling the medium short).
Excellent video, thank you
Excellent work!
Glad you liked it! Thanks! :)
great work
Hello. Excuse me. May I reprint this video on Chinese video websites?
Of course!
@@hippocau THANKS!
Thank you for this video
EA, Bethesda, Ubisoft, Microsoft, etc. don't care about anything.
amazing video ❤🖤🤍💚
I know is not the important part, but Megna Jayanth looks really pretty here.
Okay this is a new channel with a big video let's go.
IMPORTANT AS HELL TOPIC GIVEN HOW OFTEN MAINSTREAM GAMING
reeeeevels in outright imperialism and denial of its effects still being a major driver of conflict
Thank you!!
Bravo 👏🏼
Mercé le sang
Thanks for this
Thank you!!
1:16:17 you wont believe the interesting stories behind how this museums get these parts 🤦♂🙃
✊🍉
243
Its like this video comes 20 years too late, nowadays gamers are more concerned about woke/DEI games, you have allready lost the culture war a long time ago, the only thing left is this kind of meaningless virtue signaling. But I guess you can make a career out of that.
Don't dismiss "historical accuracy". You are not gonna like it when the historical accuracy of this conflict is fabricated, and then YOU are going to be the ones decrying that historical inaccuracy in Call of Duty.
we've already seen call of duty attempting to rewrite history, claiming the highway of death was perpetuated by russia, when it was actually the united states.
there is a big difference between putting a minority in as a skin for a multiplayer mode and attempting to shift the blame of a real-world attack on civillians.
@@giwake There you go. We both agree that historical accuracy actually matters.
Clickbaity titles like this do nothing but cheapen the overall point you're trying to make
whatever happened to not judging a book by its cover?
and if you think "blood on our controllers" is a clickbaity title then maybe watch the whole thing to see what point its trying to make
and at least they are speaking about it
rather than just watching and talking shit about it with no introspection while being on the fence, like some people...
@@aarava1176 I did watch it, actually. A couple times. I still think the title is clickbaity.
So, what you’re saying here is you want to put the gaming industry out of business.
Tons of games have been successful by paying attention to what they convey with their design. The gaming industry will absolutely not go out of business by doing so :)
if standing against genocide ended the gaming industry, then it never deserved to exist in the first place.
"man i really don't like the fact that this one restaurant says it serves everyone, but charges a particular group of people more than others, and nobody is addressing that so I think i should do it"
"OH SO YOU WANT EVERY RESTUARANT TO GET OUT OF BUSINESS"
please grow a frontal lobe.