Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittaldoes not seem to be the most popular man in France. And the French have found an innovative way to vent their anger against him. A new video game called Kill Mittal is now offering players a chance to take on the Indian billionaire inside a steel factory. The video game has taken inspiration from Mittal's real life decision to shut steel blast furnaces in France's northeastern town of Florange.
The game therefore is giving players - those upset with Mittal, to become a virtual employee of steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal, battling a robotic version of the Indian tycoon to keep the factory open. Players first get to battle the police with barrels and beams before taking on Mittal himself. Much in real life, players will find it difficult to keep the factory open.
The game opens with "2030, Mittal has taken hold of, and closed, the majority of steel factories worldwide, tossing out thousands of steelworkers. For these men tired of unfulfilled promises and repeated closures, when all mediation has failed, there is just one solution: Kill Mittal." The game is bound to take France by storm for two reasons. The country has been quite critical of Mittal's decision to shut factories. The biggest reason however is that it is available for free both PC and Mac. The creator of the game Alexandre Grilletta has been vocal about the "inspirational" story of workers striving to make a living.
He says it seemed to him a fable - a hero and an evil boss.
Grilletta's inspiration came from images he saw on television of workers fighting for their jobs. Grilletta's interestingly comes from the same region in France where the factories have shut down. Grilletta insists the game is "simply a bit of fun" and not meant to incite violence, Mittal has also recently faced attack from France's industry minister who accused the world's largest steel-maker ArcelorMittal, of lying.
In an aggressive attack, Arnaud Montebourg even urged Mittal to leave the country and also threatened the company with temporary nationalisation.
"We no longer want Mittal in France because they don't respect France," Montebourg said in a recent interview. The French claim Mittal never kept his word of creating jobs for common people.
The outburst came after the steel company announced it had postponed the relighting of a blast furnace at a plant in Dunkirk. Arcelor Mittal had already shut two blast furnaces at Florange which resulted in over 629 jobs lost. Mittal's company employs 20,000 people in France. Interestingly, once the Mittal robot is defeated in the game, the screen reminds the player that although Mittal has been killed, he will quickly be replaced by someone similar.
The game therefore is giving players - those upset with Mittal, to become a virtual employee of steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal, battling a robotic version of the Indian tycoon to keep the factory open. Players first get to battle the police with barrels and beams before taking on Mittal himself. Much in real life, players will find it difficult to keep the factory open.
The game opens with "2030, Mittal has taken hold of, and closed, the majority of steel factories worldwide, tossing out thousands of steelworkers. For these men tired of unfulfilled promises and repeated closures, when all mediation has failed, there is just one solution: Kill Mittal." The game is bound to take France by storm for two reasons. The country has been quite critical of Mittal's decision to shut factories. The biggest reason however is that it is available for free both PC and Mac. The creator of the game Alexandre Grilletta has been vocal about the "inspirational" story of workers striving to make a living.
He says it seemed to him a fable - a hero and an evil boss.
Grilletta's inspiration came from images he saw on television of workers fighting for their jobs. Grilletta's interestingly comes from the same region in France where the factories have shut down. Grilletta insists the game is "simply a bit of fun" and not meant to incite violence, Mittal has also recently faced attack from France's industry minister who accused the world's largest steel-maker ArcelorMittal, of lying.
In an aggressive attack, Arnaud Montebourg even urged Mittal to leave the country and also threatened the company with temporary nationalisation.
"We no longer want Mittal in France because they don't respect France," Montebourg said in a recent interview. The French claim Mittal never kept his word of creating jobs for common people.
The outburst came after the steel company announced it had postponed the relighting of a blast furnace at a plant in Dunkirk. Arcelor Mittal had already shut two blast furnaces at Florange which resulted in over 629 jobs lost. Mittal's company employs 20,000 people in France. Interestingly, once the Mittal robot is defeated in the game, the screen reminds the player that although Mittal has been killed, he will quickly be replaced by someone similar.
No comments:
Post a Comment