Shadow Complex has been talked about ad nauseam, all week it's been nothing but Shadow Complex wherever I look. I've ignored it for the most part since I have little interest in the game but a forum topic I found on Giantbomb.com linking to a Gamasutra Article by Christian Nutt had gotten a hold of my attention.

The article was about the controversy around the game that started with a simple NeoGaf post. Apparently a user raised the question about the game which I quote, "Should we boycott Shadow Complex?". To give some background information (Although I wont go too deep into it, if you want more information I highly recommend reading Christian Nutt's Article on the subject), this user suggested this because it's been highly known that the author of the book "Empire", which Shadow Complex is based off of, Orson Scott Card is an anti-advocate of gay marriage. He has gone on record suggesting that gay marriage is wrong and that marriage is meant to be between a man and a women.

Now, the reasoning behind the boycott is that Orson must be getting some kind of payment from the sales of Shadow Complex. For people who are in favor of gay marriage, buying this game may seem like its in some way funding his agenda.

I've thought about this for a while, it's a tricky subject. I'm in the middle when it comes to this, I'm not very interested in the game. However as I see it Shadow Complex is its own property, pretty much a stand alone. Sure, it's based in the world of Orson's book but from what I hear the story is hardly explored in the game. The game it self stand on its own, Shadow Complex doesn't even look like it explores any themes regarding homosexuality.

What I'm trying to say is, Orson doesn't really have that big of a hand in the game and from what I've read in Christian Nutt's article the producers of the game haven't shown to share the same opinions as Orson. These people just made a fun side scrolling action game, that's it. I see no reason to completely boycott Shadow Complex. If the content is not offensive then so what?

If Orsons affiliation with Shadow Complex is the problem then there are solutions. I really don't think the people at Chair should pay for that. The content seems non offensive and the developers don't really have any hostility to the homosexual community. But, if Orson being apart of the project bothers people that much, then yeah, I guess boycott it if you so choose. If you like the game but are in favor of gay marriage, take the Gaygamer.net approach to things. The guys there brought up the idea that, if you like the game buy it and then donate money to a Pro-Gay charity. I think it's a fine solution.

It all depends on how much your bothered by the game being based in the world of "Empire". From what I've heard, Orson has little to no control over anything that happens with Shadow Complex, I see it as no reason for a boycott. But like I said before, it's all up to how much it bothers the individual I suppose. For me, it seems like a tiny thing to be bothered about, this game feels a lot less impactful to Orson than, I don't know, actually buying his book.