Advertising a game on Weed is difficult

A game on the culture and sale of cannabis published for PC and Mac last week is a problem: it is a game about the cultivation and sale of cannabis.

"You would think we were selling grass", co-founder of Devolver and Weedcraft, Inc. executive producer Mike Wilson said Kotaku. "Do not sell, you know, a game about the industry."

The game of society has encountered some resistance. According to a report by Motherboard, Videos featuring the game go against inconsistent content guidelines that are unevenly applied by YouTube. The report also states that the Devolver Digital publisher's Facebook page was restricted when it was launched, probably because of the game's drug-related content. (Facebook has since removed the restriction status of the page.)

Devolver also said, in a press release, that he was "unable to market the title as he would through traditional marketing channels because of the diversity of drug laws from one state to another." the other, "also claiming that the videos of the creators of YouTube featuring the game had been demonetized. -The ads will not show and the creator of YouTube will not win money.

It's true that YouTube's guidelines on cannabis are not the clearest. They are not really mentioned on the site policies page. The closest recommendation restricts the content relating to "the consumption and creation of hard drugs". This descriptor, one might say, only vaguely applies to cannabis, a substance that exists under various states of legality in America.

Wilson says he is frustrated after overcoming barriers to marketing for a year. Weedcraft ("I yelled at some people last week"), obstacles he really did not expect, even if there were red flags. A big one was when most of their consultants asked not to be named. Another event was when their Chinese partners said the game could not be located, it would run the risk of hurting the country's censored government and locking Devolver into one of their major markets.

The controversy was expected, but not to that extent – according to Wilson, Weedcraft deliberately dissociates himself from the cultural stereotype embodied by the films Stoner and Snoop Dogg. (That's also why the game was not launched on April 20.)

"A lot of pretty offensive things," Wilson said of the weed stereotypes. "It's very racially charged. It is often sexually charged. There is a lot of what I call "sluts and bangs" content, but we did not want to be part of it. According to Wilson, Weedcraft is for both regular magnate-type gamers and those interested in the modern weed economy.

This goes against the image that Devolver has built over the years. The publisher proved himself by adopting a conflicting attitude within the video game industry, positioning himself as a disconcerting oppressor who opposed big-budget bullshit. This is not the only solution that the publisher takes (Grey is an emotional poem, the opposite of "conflictual" and not marketed as such), but it is the most consistent posture for society that has stood out on edifying titles like Hotline Miami and Genital joust.

Even if there was no controversy, Devolver has benefited from it in the past, showing that he was able to turn the troubles of his games into an opportunity – Devolver posting a tweet about the problems encountered Grey Last year, Facebook had rejected a trailer because it was "sexually suggestive", which was not the case.

I asked Wilson if this is part of his Weedcraft calculation: this censorship and controversy tend to draw attention to a subject rather than moving away from it, if it hoped to take a less than ideal situation and use it to make hay.

"Yes, I mean definitely, you know, maybe the controversy has caught the attention [we] would have had no other start at launch, "he said, pointing out that the game took about 20 hours and that Devolver did not expect a sensational sensation. "Maybe that noise made up for the fact that, you know, we could not run ads and that a group of streamers escaped." But we will never know.

Despite the frustration, WIlson still feels a little justified, because everything is illustrative of WeedcraftUpdate on: The cannabis industry is changing and dominant attitudes are often regressive. A wider conversation is needed – and Mike Wilson would really like you to have Weedcraft Be part of it.