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Not For Broadcast

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Not For Broadcast is a full motion propaganda simulator developed by British video game studio NotGames and published by tinyBuild. The game released with its first episode in early access on 30 January 2020.[2][3][4] The full game, including the third and final episode, was released worldwide on 25 January 2022 for Windows.[5] The game was released for Meta Quest 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on 23 March 2023.[6]

Not For Broadcast
Developer(s)NotGames[1]
Publisher(s)tinyBuild
Director(s)
  • Alex Paterson
  • Jason Orbaum
Producer(s)
  • Andy Murray
  • Denis Sewell
  • Zara Coombes (Film)
Designer(s)
  • Andy Murray
  • Alex Paterson
Programmer(s)
  • Jason Orbaum
  • George Burchmore
  • Peter Champion
Artist(s)
  • Alex Paterson
  • Denis Sewell
  • Zara Coombes
Writer(s)
  • Jason Orbaum
  • Alex Paterson
  • Andy Murray
  • George Vere
Composer(s)
  • Jason Orbaum
  • Christopher Brown
EngineUnity
Platform(s)
Release
  • Windows
  • 25 January 2022
  • Quest 2, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
  • 23 March 2023
Genre(s)Government simulation
Mode(s)Single-player

The game takes place in an unnamed European country (resembling the United Kingdom) in the mid-1980s,[a] where a new populist socialist political party named Advance has won a surprise landslide election victory and begins to handle the country in an increasingly authoritarian dystopian fashion, forcing redistribution of wealth. The player takes the role of Alex Winston, a studio director in a national television station, having to produce a live broadcast, play adverts, censor swear words, and avoid interference in an effort to keep the viewership high.[7]

On early access release, Not For Broadcast received positive reviews, with praise going to its gameplay and mechanics. Early versions were criticised for confusing political storytelling and dissonance in tone.[by whom?]

Gameplay

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Broadcast days

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A gameplay screenshot showing the broadcast room, with the player currently controlling the interference waveform.

The player plays the role of studio director Alex Winston in the production control room of the National Nightly News.

The player uses the vision mixer to select which camera feed to broadcast. After a two-second broadcast delay, the feed selected is broadcast. The player is required to censor any profanity or objectionable language by bleeping out the word as it is broadcast. At later levels, the player can also add sound effects such as applause and canned laughter to the broadcast. The player also uses a waveform monitor to control any interference. An audience meter gives feedback on the player's performance: good editing will help raise viewership, while poor editing, failing to censor or allowing interference to interrupt the broadcast will lower viewership. If the audience meter falls to zero, the player fails the level.

During each broadcast, the player selects three advertisements to play during breaks and which headlines to run in the first segment. The adverts and headlines selected influence the game outcome by promoting Advance or its rival Disrupt, increasing the player's earnings by promoting companies in which the player holds shares, or unlocking variations in the storyline.

At the end of each broadcast day, the player is graded on their broadcast, which affects their pay. The player is given the option to watch their broadcast as well as the unused footage.

Non-broadcast days

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The protagonist has a life and family outside the broadcast room. This is represented through an "Incident system", a series of text-based choices in visual novel format where the player, based on a brief segment about their private life, makes decisions. These decisions are influenced by what the player chose to do in the Broadcast room. Sometimes, choices made in the incident system can also influence what happens in the broadcast room. Choosing certain options matter to the family, and they affect the dynamic and relationships the player character has with their family.

Plot

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The game is set in a fictional country with similarities to the United Kingdom, from 1984 to 1991. The player is Alex Winston, who works at the nation's largest television network, Channel One. Formerly a janitor, Alex is suddenly thrust into the broadcast manager position for the National Nightly News when their predecessor, Dave, flees the country and Alex is forced to edit the election night broadcast in his place.

The story begins with the far-left progressive political party Advance, led by lawyer Julia Salisbury and television personality Peter Clement, winning an unexpected landslide victory. Advance implements several radical reforms, such as wealth redistribution, right to die policies, and nationalisation of several large corporations. As time goes on, Advance becomes increasingly authoritarian in their governance, including limiting the freedom of the press and requesting censorship of anti-government statements. The resistance group Disrupt forms to counteract Advance's agenda.

The World Council places harsh sanctions on the country, causing economic troubles, eventually causing Advance to declare war. 10 weeks later, fed up with the increase in soft news stories and censorship, co-anchor Jeremy Donaldson snaps live on-air and holds the studio hostage at gunpoint. Depending on the player's response, Jeremy ends up committing suicide, being shot dead by police, or being arrested. Disrupt starts to infrequently hijack Channel One's broadcasts. Another 10 weeks later, Advance retaliates against the World Council by detonating nuclear explosives in four major cities on the continent and threatens to detonate more devices if the countries do not unconditionally surrender, causing Advance to win the war and annex the continent.

A year and a half later, Channel One has been nationalised, Peter Clement has died, and Disrupt has been branded as a terrorist group after staging attacks. Disrupt spokesperson Alan James asks Alex to manipulate the broadcast to start an uprising against the Advance government. Advance is aware of the uprising and sends in the military to defeat Disrupt. Depending on Disrupt's popularity and whether or not Alex successfully manipulates the broadcast, Alan either successfully retreats while bringing down the broadcast tower or fails to take down the broadcast tower and gets killed. Four and a half years later, the National Nightly News is rebranded as a soft media program called the NNN. Advance attributes rapidly rising sterility to the bombs, and Advance propaganda has made its way into young minds.

Nearly two years later, the NNN has been rebranded as a talk show called The Nightly Show. Julia Salisbury appears as a surprise guest to present the winner of the National Anthem competition. There are four different final segments depending on whether Jeremy and Alan are alive or deceased, leading to Jeremy, Alan, both or neither interrupting the broadcast for various reasons. Each different final segment allows playing a tape exposing either Advance or Disrupt, resulting in fourteen different epilogues depending on whether the said tape was played, and the player's political stance.

Cast

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  • Paul Baverstock as Jeremy Donaldson, the male co-anchor of the National Nightly News.
  • Andrea Valls as Megan Wolfe, the female co-anchor of the National Nightly News.
  • Jade Johnson as Robyn Shorte, a reporter.
  • George Vere as Patrick Bannon, a reporter.
    • Vere also plays Patrick's father, television personality Graham Bannon.
  • Emma Mulkern as Not Patrick/Francis, a reporter who substitutes for Patrick Bannon.
  • Claire Racklyeft as Julia Salisbury, a lawyer turned Advance co-leader and Prime Minister.
  • Roger Alborough as Peter Clement, a television personality turned Advance co-leader and Prime Minister.
    • Joseph Ayre plays a young Peter Clement.
  • Jonathan Hawkins as Alan James, a conspiracy theorist turned Disrupt spokesman.
  • Sarah Gibbons as Jenny, the floor manager.
  • Dan Ellis as Geoff Algebra.
  • Adam Willis as Tommy Harris.
  • Helen Potter as Phillipa Rayden.[8]

Development

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The first episode of Not For Broadcast was released in early access on 30 January 2020, with the developers stating their intention to keep it in early access for approximately eighteen months while updating three free new episodes that caused the game's price to increase.[9] Days before filming began for a second episode, the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom led to lockdowns which ceased all production. Instead of pausing production, the developers chose to create a bonus chapter titled Not For Broadcast: Lockdown, which contains a new storyline, with the cast being stuck at home "as they shelter from a rampaging horde of animatronic children's toys."[10][11] The chapter was released alongside a new challenge mode, featuring 4 different challenge variations.[12] Due to the lockdown delaying production on the game, the original plan to have 4 episodes was revised, and the story was rewritten to be told in three episodes instead. Finally, a year after the original release, on 28 January 2021 a second episode was released, which showcased impacts of certain decisions in previous chapters and was released together with an hour-long documentary titled "Not for Broadcast: Lights, Camera, Lockdown," about how the development team behind the game reveals how they managed to produce two video-filled updates of the game amidst a global pandemic.[13][14] After releasing Episode 2, the production was halted once again by the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, which further delayed the release of Episode 3 until 25 January 2022.

Reception

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Not For Broadcast received generally positive reviews from critics both in early access and upon its full release. The game was complimented for its innovative concept and gameplay, including the satirical over-the-top content video segments and the production control room mechanics.[17][18][20][21] Criticism went to its "on-the-nose political commentary" in the earliest early access version, with Cass Marshall writing for Polygon "[the game is] laying it on pretty thick."[22][23] On Steam, the game has "overwhelmingly positive" user reviews.[9]

According to Guinness World Records, the game has a record of the "Most Full Motion Video footage in a videogame", clocking in at 42 hours, 57 minutes, and 52 seconds.[24] This, in turn, was also covered positively by multiple media outlets.[25]

The game was nominated for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the 2023 Independent Games Festival Awards.[26] It was also nominated for the "Outstanding Game, Simulation" and "Outstanding Writing in a Comedy" awards at the 22nd Annual NAVGTR Awards, both of which went to Japanese Rail Sim: Journey to Kyoto and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge.[27] The game was also nominated for Game Beyond Entertainment at the 19th British Academy Games Awards,[28] which went to Endling: Extinction is Forever;[29] and for "Narrative Innovation of the Year" at the MCV/Develop Awards,[30] which went to As Dusk Falls.[31]

Zero Punctuation named it the Fifth Best Game of 2022.[32]

Downloadable content

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On 24 January 2023 the game developers and TinyBuild announced the development of three new episodes as premium DLC. The first is called Live & Spooky which sees Alex editing an episode of a late-night paranormal investigation show set in January 1985, where journalist Patrick Bannon is a featured guest in a mystery surrounding an abandoned film studio. The release date for the DLC along with the Season Pass were both announced during IGN Fan Fest on 17 February 2023 and were released on 23 March 2023.[33] The second one is called Bits of Your Life, where the player, as Dave, produces a broadcast where Peter Clement's life and career is told.[34] It was released on 14 November 2023.[35] Finally, the third and last episode is called The Timeloop, where the first televised science experiment is presented on a special broadcast of the National Nightly News called the "Night of Smiles", as Alex and Boseman find themselves trapped in a timeloop. It was released on 29 August 2024.[36]

Notes

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  1. ^ After certain characters die, they get tombstones that have their death years engraved. According to the day sequence and other sources in-game, the game begins on 8 November 1984 and ends on 23 December 1991.

References

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  1. ^ "Satirical propaganda sim Not For Broadcast gets Episode 2 release date" (Press release). Games Press. 11 November 2020. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  2. ^ Morton, Lauren (13 January 2020). "Not For Broadcast is a hectic dystopian TV simulator". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  3. ^ Clayton, Natalie (1 February 2020). "Dystopian telly-wrangler Not For Broadcast is now live in early access". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  4. ^ Marshall, Cass (10 March 2020). "You'll be able to tank careers for higher ratings in Not for Broadcast's updates". Polygon. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Not For Broadcast - Launch Trailer". IGN. 25 January 2022. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  6. ^ "'Not For Broadcast' Is Coming To PlayStation and Xbox Consoles In March, Includes Live & Spooky DLC - Trailer". WorthPlaying. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  7. ^ Watts, Rachel (6 January 2020). "Manipulate the politics of a country in FMV game Not For Broadcast". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Not For Broadcast Credits". notgames.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 February 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  9. ^ a b LeClair, Kyle (4 February 2020). "My Time as a Dystopian News Editor in Not For Broadcast". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Keep the news on air from home in Not For Broadcast: Lockdown, out now" (Press release). Games Press. 25 June 2020. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  11. ^ Marshall, Cass (25 June 2020). "Not For Broadcast updates with the free Lockdown chapter". Polygon. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  12. ^ Broadley, Logan (28 January 2021). "Not For Broadcast gets a massive new update with Episode 2". PC Invasion. Archived from the original on 6 March 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  13. ^ Davis, Wes (29 January 2021). "Perpetuate Dystopia or Don't, in Not For Broadcast - Episode 2". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  14. ^ "Acclaimed Newsroom Sim Not For Broadcast Launches Biting New Chapter!". PC Game. 28 January 2021. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  15. ^ "Not for Broadcast for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  16. ^ "Not For Broadcast". Edge. No. 369. February 2022. p. 121.
  17. ^ a b LeClair, Kyle (9 February 2022). "Review: Not for Broadcast". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  18. ^ a b Evenden, Ian (21 February 2022). "Not for Broadcast review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  19. ^ Lindner, Natalie (25 January 2022). "Not For Broadcast Review: A Satirical Simulator Must-Have". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  20. ^ "Not for Broadcast: un concept étonnant à peaufiner et perfectionner" [Not for Broadcast: an amazing concept to refine and perfect]. Jeuxvideo.com (in French). 26 February 2020. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  21. ^ Priestman, Chris (30 January 2020). "Not For Broadcast mixes '80s newsroom satire with Papers, Please". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  22. ^ Marshall, Cass (29 January 2020). "This high-pressure propaganda sim can't stop getting silly". Polygon. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  23. ^ Hogarty, Steam (4 February 2020). "Premature Evaluation: Not For Broadcast". Rock Paper Shotgun. Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  24. ^ "Most Full Motion Video footage in a videogame". Guinness World Records. 12 January 2022. Archived from the original on 21 January 2022. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  25. ^ Sheehan, Gavin (6 February 2022). "Not For Broadcast Claims New Guinness World Record". bleedingcool.com. Archived from the original on 8 February 2022.
  26. ^ Mejia, Ozzy (24 January 2023). "Independent Games Festival Awards 2023 finalists revealed". Shacknews. Archived from the original on 28 January 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  27. ^ "Elden Ring wins Game of the Year from NAVGTR®". NAVGTR. 14 February 2023. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  28. ^ Howard, Jessica (2 March 2023). "God Of War Ragnarok And Stray Among Top Nominees On 2023 BAFTA Games Awards List". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  29. ^ Gardner, Matt (30 March 2023). "Bafta Games Awards 2023 Winners: 'Vampire Survivors' Shocks As Best Game". Forbes. Archived from the original on 30 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  30. ^ Pavey, Vince (6 April 2023). "Here are the finalists for the 2023 MCV/DEVELOP Awards!". MCV/Develop. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  31. ^ Shoemaker, Richie (12 May 2023). "Congratulations to the 2023 MCV/DEVELOP Award winners!". MCV/Develop. Archived from the original on 12 May 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  32. ^ Croshaw, Ben "Yahtzee" (4 January 2023). "The Best, Worst, and Blandest of 2022 – Zero Punctuation". The Escapist. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  33. ^ TinyBuild (18 February 2023). "Not For Broadcast: Live & Spooky DLC - Official Gameplay Trailer" (video). Youtube. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  34. ^ NotGames. "Not For Broadcast: Bits of Your Life". Steam. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.
  35. ^ "Not For Broadcast - Official 'Bits of Your Life' DLC Launch Trailer". 14 November 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  36. ^ NotGames. "Not For Broadcast: The Timeloop". Steam. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2023.

Further reading

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