Ethnic Cleansing (video Game)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Ethnic Cleansing'' (also known as ''Ethnic Cleansing: The Game'') is a 2002
first-person shooter A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through t ...
game developed by the
National Alliance National Alliance may refer to: Electoral alliances *National Alliance (Egypt) (2015) * National Alliance (Ireland) (2024 onwards) * National Alliance (Pakistan) (2002-2004) *Nation Alliance (Turkey) (2018-2023) Political parties and organizations ...
, an American
white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...
and
neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
organization. The player controls one of three selectable characters, including a
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
member and a
neo-Nazi skinhead White power skinheads, also known as racist skinheads and neo-Nazi skinheads, are members of a neo-Nazi, music of white skin head white supremacist and antisemitic offshoot of the skinhead subculture. Many of them are affiliated with white natio ...
, and traverses two levels to kill stereotypically depicted
African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...
,
Latinos Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spanish or Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino, regardless of race. According to th ...
, and
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
. Designed to be
politically incorrect "Political correctness" (adjectivally "politically correct"; commonly abbreviated to P.C.) is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. ...
and spread a white supremacist message, the game was released through the National Alliance's
record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
,
Resistance Records Resistance Records was a Canadian record label owned by Resistance LLC which was closely connected to the organization National Alliance. It produced and sold music by neo-Nazi and white separatist musicians, primarily through its website. Adve ...
, on
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., and often referred to shorthand as MLK Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed on the third Monday of January each year. King was the chief spokespers ...
2002. It was received negatively by anti-hate organizations like the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith and has been considered as one of the most controversial and most racist games. Resistance Records sought to release a series of games based on the novel ''
The Turner Diaries ''The Turner Diaries'' is a 1978 novel by William Luther Pierce, the founder and chairman of National Alliance, an American white nationalist group, published under the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald. It was initially syndicated in the National All ...
'' and published ''White Law'' in 2003.


Gameplay

''Ethnic Cleansing'' is a
first-person shooter A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through t ...
that depicts a
race war An ethnic conflict is a conflict between two or more ethnic groups. While the source of the conflict may be political, social, economic or religious, the individuals in conflict must expressly fight for their ethnic group's position within so ...
. The player can choose to control a
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...
member, a
neo-Nazi skinhead White power skinheads, also known as racist skinheads and neo-Nazi skinheads, are members of a neo-Nazi, music of white skin head white supremacist and antisemitic offshoot of the skinhead subculture. Many of them are affiliated with white natio ...
, or the
Aryan ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''), Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood ...
White Will (who visually resembles the domestic terrorist
Timothy McVeigh Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was an American domestic terrorist who masterminded and perpetrated the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. The bombing itself killed 167 people (including 19 children), injured ...
). As enemies, the player faces
African Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa ...
,
Latinos Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spanish or Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino, regardless of race. According to th ...
, and
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, who are described as "predatory sub-humans" with "Jewish masters". They are depicted with various
racial stereotypes An ethnic stereotype or racial stereotype involves part of a system of beliefs about typical characteristics of members of a given ethnic group, their status, societal and cultural norms. A national stereotype does the same for a given nation ...
and, when killed, black characters make monkey noises, Jews shout "''
oy vey ''Oy vey'' () is a Yiddish phrase expressing dismay or exasperation. Also spelled ''oy vay'', ''oy veh'', or ''oi vey'', and often abbreviated to ''oy'', the expression may be translated as "oh, woe!" or "woe is me!" Its Hebrew equivalent is ''o ...
'', and Latinos exclaim "''
¡Ay, caramba! "''¡Ay, caramba!''" (), from the Spanish interjections (denoting surprise or pain) and (a minced oath for ), is an exclamation used in Spanish to denote surprise (usually positive). In popular culture and arts The exclamation became associ ...
'' or say they would take a
siesta A siesta (from Spanish, pronounced and meaning "nap") is a short nap taken in the early afternoon, often after the midday meal. Such a period of sleep is a common tradition in some countries, particularly those in warm-weather zones. The "si ...
. Health is restored by collecting life runes and
white power rock White power music is music that promotes white nationalism. It encompasses various music styles, including rock, country, and folk. Ethnomusicologist Benjamin R. Teitelbaum argues that white power music "can be defined by lyrics that demonize ...
plays in the background. The game comprises two levels. The player starts in an urban environment, where they fight Latinos and black enemies, including their leader, Big Nig. The second level is a subway station, outlined as the hideout of Jews seeking world domination. The final
boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...
is
Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon ( ; also known by his diminutive Arik, ; 26 February 192811 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. Born in Kfar Malal in Mandatory Palestin ...
, the
prime minister of Israel The prime minister of Israel (, Hebrew abbreviations, Hebrew abbreviation: ; , ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief executive of the Israel, State of Israel. Israel is a parliamentary republic with a President of Isra ...
, who attacks the player with a
rocket launcher A rocket launcher is a weapon that launches an unguided, rocket-propelled projectile. History The earliest rocket launchers documented in imperial China consisted of arrows modified by the attachment of a rocket motor to the shaft a few i ...
. A playthrough lasts for approximately 20 minutes.


Development and release

''Ethnic Cleansing'' was produced by the
National Alliance National Alliance may refer to: Electoral alliances *National Alliance (Egypt) (2015) * National Alliance (Ireland) (2024 onwards) * National Alliance (Pakistan) (2002-2004) *Nation Alliance (Turkey) (2018-2023) Political parties and organizations ...
, an American
white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...
organization. According to the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith (ADL), it was "the largest and most active
neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
organization in the United States". Shaun Walker, the
chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...
of the National Alliance, said the game's sole purpose was to be "racially provocative". It was advertised as the "most
politically incorrect "Political correctness" (adjectivally "politically correct"; commonly abbreviated to P.C.) is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in society. ...
video game ever made". ''Ethnic Cleansing'' was developed using
Genesis3D Gamigo Inc., doing business as WildTangent, is an American video game developer based in Round Rock, Texas. In April 2019, it was acquired by the German games company . Games Approximately 30 of the games in the WildTangent catalog were produce ...
, an
open-source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...
3D
game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games which generally includes relevant libraries and support programs such as a level editor. The "engine" terminology is akin to the term " software engine" u ...
, and its Reality Factory set of tools. Using an existing engine allowed for the game's creation with only minor modifications to the
source code In computing, source code, or simply code or source, is a plain text computer program written in a programming language. A programmer writes the human readable source code to control the behavior of a computer. Since a computer, at base, only ...
. D. Bryan Ringer designed and programmed the game using the
Visual Basic Visual Basic is a name for a family of programming languages from Microsoft. It may refer to: * Visual Basic (.NET), the current version of Visual Basic launched in 2002 which runs on .NET * Visual Basic (classic), the original Visual Basic suppo ...
and
C++ C++ (, pronounced "C plus plus" and sometimes abbreviated as CPP or CXX) is a high-level, general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup. First released in 1985 as an extension of the C programmin ...
programming languages, while Bob Hawthorne provided additional video and sound elements, including the voices for Jews. The game was released by
Resistance Records Resistance Records was a Canadian record label owned by Resistance LLC which was closely connected to the organization National Alliance. It produced and sold music by neo-Nazi and white separatist musicians, primarily through its website. Adve ...
, a
record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
owned by the National Alliance, on January 21, 2002, coinciding with
Martin Luther King Jr. Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officially Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., and often referred to shorthand as MLK Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed on the third Monday of January each year. King was the chief spokespers ...
. The label sold the game on
CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...
via its website for , a reference to the
Fourteen Words "The Fourteen Words" (also abbreviated 14 or 1488) is a reference to two slogans originated by the American domestic terrorist David Eden Lane, one of nine founding members of the defunct white supremacist terrorist organization The Order (white ...
. Several thousand copies were manufactured and shipped by Rainbo Records until the company severed its ties with Resistance Records in June 2002.


Reception

Marcus Brian highlighted ''Ethnic Cleansing'' in his report on racist video games for the ADL and said it was "the most sophisticated racist game available online". The organization's national director,
Abraham Foxman Abraham Henry Foxman (born May 1, 1940) is an American lawyer and activist. He served as the national director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) from 1987 to 2015, and is currently the organization's national director emeritus. From 2016 to 20 ...
, regarded it as a perversion of the "very legitimate and popular" medium of video games.
James Paul Gee James Gee (; born April 15, 1948) is a retired American researcher who has worked in psycholinguistics, discourse analysis, sociolinguistics, bilingual education, and literacy. Gee most recently held the position as the Mary Lou Fulton Presidentia ...
, a professor at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...
, described it as a "persuasive example" of an ideology conveyed through a video game. Similar concerns were raised by the National Association for the Advancement of Hispanic People and the
National Urban League The National Urban League (NUL), formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for Afri ...
's Institute for Opportunity and Equality. Mahnoor Saeed at the
Institute of Regional Studies An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...
found the game to reinforce racist stereotypes.
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
, as well as the authors Constance Steinkuehler and Kurt Squire in the book ''Gaming and Extremism'', attributed the rise of extremist games at the time to the availability of open-source game engines like Genesis3D.
Alex St. John Alex St. John, along with Craig Eisler and Eric Engstrom, created the original Microsoft DirectX technology platform. Alex became the Microsoft Windows Game technology evangelist for DirectX through his early work at Microsoft (1992-1997) to adva ...
, the
chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
of
WildTangent Gamigo Inc., doing business as WildTangent, is an American video game developer based in Round Rock, Texas. In April 2019, it was acquired by the German games company . Games Approximately 30 of the games in the WildTangent catalog were produc ...
, which owned the engine, distanced himself from the game and said his company was not involved.
William Luther Pierce William Luther Pierce III (September 11, 1933 – July 23, 2002) was an American Neo-Nazism, neo-Nazi Activism, political activist. For more than 30 years, he was one of the highest-profile individuals of the white nationalist movement. A physic ...
, the National Alliance's founder, claimed the game had a positive reception and sold 2,000 copies by March 2002, with 90% of customers being "white teenage boys". He characterized it as a "medium for the message" that teenagers could be subjected to even before being old enough to join the National Alliance. Several academic writers noted the use of video games and the associated
popular culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of cultural practice, practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art
f. pop art F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 (number), 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distributi ...
or mass art, sometimes contraste ...
as an effective recruitment tool for young people. Nick Robinson and Joe Whittaker believe that having the collectable life rune, which doubles as the National Alliance's logo, restore the player's health makes them associate it with positive effects. However, they believed the game's high difficulty may limit its appeal to experienced players. In a retrospective for ''
Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
'', Paweł Mączewski noted that "the game itself is so tragic in terms of execution that even neo-Nazis would not want to play it". ''
The Record The Record may refer to: Music * The Record (Fear album), ''The Record'' (Fear album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear * The Record (Boygenius album), ''The Record'' (Boygenius album), a 2023 studio album by the indie rock supe ...
'' interviewed several young men who identified as
white nationalists White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wav ...
, and they found the game to be in bad taste and potentially harmful for their movement due to the violence it depicts. Kristian A. Bjørkelo in ''Game Studies'', as well as Galen Lamphere‑Englund and Jessica White of the
Global Network on Extremism and Technology The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT) is an Internet industry initiative to share proprietary information and technology for automated content moderation. History Founded in 2017 by a consortium of companies spearheaded by Fac ...
, remarked that ''Ethnic Cleansing'' was one of the first right-wing extremist video games and was key to their rise in popularity. According to Mic's Ryan Khosravi, it was the best-known neo-Nazi game and continued to be discussed on Stormfront, a neo-Nazi internet forum, until at least April 2017. ''Ethnic Cleansing'' has been ranked among the most controversial video games by ''
PC World ''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online-only publication. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal tec ...
'' (2010), ''GameZone'' (2012), ''
PCMag ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and continues . Overview ''PC Magaz ...
'' (2014), and '' The Escapist'' (2015). '' UGO'' and ''
Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...
'' considered it the most racist game in 2010 and 2012, respectively. ''Ethnic Cleansing'' is explicitly prohibited to be shown on
Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...
, a
video game livestreaming The live streaming of video games is an activity where people broadcast themselves playing games to a live audience online. The practice became popular in the mid-2010s on the US-based site Twitch, before growing to YouTube, Facebook, China-b ...
service.


Sequel

''Ethnic Cleansing'' was advertised as the first in a series of games. The second game was to be ''Turner Diaries: The Game'', based on Pierce's novel ''
The Turner Diaries ''The Turner Diaries'' is a 1978 novel by William Luther Pierce, the founder and chairman of National Alliance, an American white nationalist group, published under the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald. It was initially syndicated in the National All ...
'', which depicts Aryans eliminating all non-white people through
nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space *Nuclear ...
,
chemical A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...
, and
biological warfare Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or Pathogen, infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and Fungus, fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an ...
. In 2003, Resistance Records released ''White Law''. The game casts the player as the former
SWAT A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...
member Michael Riley, who must reclaim the fictional new American capital, Kapitol City, from
people of color The term "person of color" (: people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is associated with, the United States. From th ...
. It expands on the gameplay of ''Ethnic Cleansing'' with more levels and weapons.


References


Further reading

* * *


External links

* {{Neo-Nazism 2002 video games Anti-black racism in the United States Anti-Hispanic and Latino sentiment in the United States Antisemitic works Ethnic cleansing First-person shooters Genocide in fiction National Alliance (United States) Neo-Nazi works Neo-Nazism in fiction Obscenity controversies in video games Propaganda video games Race-related controversies in video games Single-player video games Video games banned from Twitch (service) Video games developed in the United States Video games set in the United States Windows games Windows-only games