Paolo Pedercini | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1981 |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Alma mater | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
| Occupation | Video game designer |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Known for | |
| Website | Official site |
Paolo Pedercini (born 1981[1]) is an Italian game designer known for making Flash videogames based on provocative left-wing socio-political points of view, on topics such as labour market flexibility and Queer theory, in explicit opposition with the mainstream video game industry.[2] He is also known under the pseudonym Molleindustria, the name of his website.[3][1] He is known for games such as Queer Power, Faith Fighter and the McDonald's Video Game. The games are often offered as freeware under a Creative Commons NonCommercial license.[4][5]
In 2003, Pedercini launched Molleindustria, a platform for politically active video games, along with a manifesto. The manifesto described Molleindustria as the "theory and practice of soft conflict – sneaky, viral, guerrillero, subliminal conflict – through and within videogames."[6]
In June 2007 the game Operazione: Pretofilia (Operation: Pedopriest), inspired by the controversial BBC documentary Sex Crimes and the Vatican, was removed from Pedercini's site after a point of order in the Italian Parliament called "Countermeasures to the religions' offences".[7]
In April 2009, Pedercini initially bowed to complaints from the Organisation of the Islamic Conference by removing Faith Fighter from their site,[8] but later put up a new version that gives the player the choice between a full and a censored version. Pedercini has later started producing a mock sequel that sarcastically pretends to promote religious pluralism and tolerance.[9] Both games have since been put back on the website.
In September 2011, Pedercini released a game entitled Phone Story for smartphones that was promptly banned from the Apple iTunes Store.[10] Phone Story focused on what Pedercini considered the "dark side" of smartphone manufacturing. When Apple banned the game, he released the game for the Android market.
For the tenth anniversary of Molleindustria, the original manifesto was translated into English for the first time.[11]
