Counter-intuitive maybe, but that stuff was delivering a lot better than the longer copy. "After a few weeks of tests, we noticed that shorter copy was more effective," Rizo said, "so we started trialing some really pithy little ads with stuff like 'optimize your nation' and a screenshot of some in-game graphs. The game's ads started last fall, and was originally much longer than "survive the coup." "The notion that Modern Wolf was trying to ride the coattails of events for marketing value makes me sick to my stomach," Rizo said, "and I mean that quite literally." Marine, self described as a "deeply patriotic guy, though I'm also pretty undeniably liberal." Though Modern Wolf is based in the UK, Rizo is from the United States, and like everyone else, was spending their time glued to the unfolding events at the Capitol. "My heart's been in my throat all day," said Modern Wolf CEO Fernando Rizo in an email with VICE Games yesterday. It's frequently used to digitally shame brands being thoughtless in moments like this, and in this case, Modern Wolf was quick to point out this was an accident and once it was made aware of what was happening, the ads were removed from circulation. This cycle is familiar on places like Twitter, where the ability to tag and dog pile isn't a bug in the system, it's a feature. "That is.untimely," said one of many Twitter users who pointed out what was going on. Pretty quickly, people were tagging the game publisher, Modern Wolf, on social media, wondering why it was running ads about a coup. It felt a lot like an attempted coup, and suddenly, here's an ad hyping up how that might be a cool video game. This ad came as members of the House were being told to hide under chairs and equip gas masks, as police barricaded doors and aimed guns at insurrectionists. The game is scheduled to be released on PCs sometime in the next few months. Rogue State Revolution, a strategy game about building a nation transitioning from a monarchy into a democracy and trying to survive the threat of an eventual coup, isn't even out yet.
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