| War of Rights | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Campfire Games |
| Publisher(s) | Campfire Games |
| Engine | CryEngine |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | December 3, 2018 (early access) |
| Genre(s) | Tactical shooter |
| Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
War of Rights is an upcoming first-person shooter game being developed by the Danish company Campfire Games.
Campfire Games founders Mads Larsen and Emil Hansen began developing War of Rights in 2012,[1] and successfully raised US$118,000 on Kickstarter three years later.[2] They released an early access version on 3 December 2018,[1] and added the ability to fire artillery in 2020.[3]
The game is set during the Maryland campaign of the American Civil War, featuring maps for the battles of Harpers Ferry, South Mountain, Shepherdstown, and Antietam.[4] It includes detailed recreations of period uniforms, weapons, and artillery. The game is multiplayer only, featuring up to 300 participants per match. The game emphasizes realistic aspects of Civil War battlefields, including a chain of command; players can receive positive benefits for following orders and maintaining their place in tactical formations. There are four classes to play as, Private, NCO, Officer, and Flag bearer.[3][5]
The game maintains a extremely active competitive scene. People are able to join "regiments" which are usually based off of real life regiments who fought in the civil war, such as the 6th Alabama, 7th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, and the largest of which 69th Infantry Regiment (New York) or "IVB" ( Irish Volunteer Brigade). These groups meet up for massive events which they battle one another with up to 300 players. Players involved in these groups claim it is the best way to enjoy the game in true realism.
Ian Birnbaum of Vice magazine has written about War of Rights' uncritical use of Confederate symbols and use of racial slurs despite the then-recent Charleston church shooting and the consequent US reckoning over the continued use of those symbols (such as displaying the Confederate battle flag). Birnbaum contrasted the first-person shooter against grand strategy games with more impersonal perspectives, saying that it was "built with one of the most realistic-looking game engines in the business [...] and it will put at least half the players in the shoes of Confederates. That's a far more involved, intimate experience."[2]
Separately, Eddie Kim of MEL Magazine has written about problems with player-led racism, highlighting the experiences of a Black streamer named Andrew Norris. "It's obvious in so many of these moments that Norris is in on the joke, cackling over racially charged situations that he purposefully incites," Kim wrote, but "other times you can just tell Norris isn't quite laughing at the premise, like in a clip from February where multiple people drop the N-word while calling for the killing of Black people and their allies."[5]