EA No Longer Paying Gun Makers For Naming Rights

In an effort to slowly cut ties with various gun and weapon manufacturers, it's reported that Electronic Arts will stop paying gun makers for the privilege of using real gun names in their video games, but will still continue to use real names without paying for the naming rights, saying that they retain the right to depict real guns without a license.

The ongoing national debate over gun violence and gun control has made a lot of companies rethink the relationships they have with gun makers, including video game developers and publishers. Electronic Arts is one publisher who will be distancing themselves from relationships with gun makers, but will still continue to use real gun names in future games.

EA president of labels Frank Gibeau says that video game developers share the same rights of free speech as authors do, noting that novel writers don't pay gun makers to use real gun names in their books. Video games are the same way, saying that Electronic Arts is "telling a story" through a point of view.

Video games have been at the forefront of the gun control debate for a while now, and it seems that video game publishers are finally buckling under the pressure and severing ties with gun manufacturers. However, none of that looks to change the ways that violent video games are made, and we're guessing that war games like Call of Duty and Battlefield will continue on as normal.

[via Reuters]