Should gamers boycott Shadow Complex?

A controversy is brewing in the gaming world over the new Xbox LIVE Arcade hit Shadow Complex and one of its creators, science fiction author and outspoken anti-gay rights activist Orson Scott Card.

Card is on the board of directors of the National Organization for Marriage. In 1990, he wrote an article called The Hypocrites of Homosexuality, where he argued that gay people should not have equal rights. In a 2000 interview with Salon, he called gay rights a "collective delusion that's being attempted" and yet, in the same interview, denied accusations that he's homophobic, calling those accusations "really ugly".

Card's politics now have some in the gaming industry wondering if Shadow Complex, which is based on some of his writings, should be boycotted. On Gamasutra, Christian Nutt provides an in-depth look into the issue. Comparing it to the current controversy Whole Foods CEO John Mackey caused when he came out against President Obama's health care plan, Nutt argues that we, as adults, should not dismiss moral discussions of this nature simply because of the medium it's involved in. A video game is not "just a game", he says, but a medium "capable of the heights of meaning and emotion" of film and just as deserving of serious discussion.

As consumers, one of the most powerful tools we have for expressing our views is our wallets. But remember that a video game, unlike a novel, is not the work of one, but the work of many. While Orson Scott Card had some small part to play in the development of Shadow Complex, there were also many others involved, people whose political views will never be made public and rightfully so. Should the people of Chair Entertainment be punished, then, for their association with Card?

So far, there is no sign that the debate is hurting the game's sales or its reviews. Metacritic has given it a score of 89. But the debate over the game could be seen as a sign that gaming, as a medium, is maturing. Whether or not this is a good thing remains to be seen.