The Church of England, which in June expressed outrage over the use of Manchester Cathedral interiors in Sony’s PlayStation 3 title Resistance: Fall of Man, is up in arms again over the game’s BAFTA nomination.
In a statement to The Guardian, the Very Reverend Rogers Govender, Dean of Manchester Cathedral, called for the removal of the game from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts award nominations. “I plead with BAFTA to send a signal to the industry and to Sony and withdraw Resistance: Fall of Man from the nominations.”
“We had to resort to legal advice to get Sony to a meeting and the row … helped sales,” he added. “The game has been nominated because of how well it’s done in the charts. This nomination is like rubbing salt in the wounds.”
According to BAFTA representative Anne-Marie Flynn, however, the game’s nomination is a matter of public opinion, and not one the Academy has any influence over. “Resistance: Fall of Man has been nominated for the PC World Gamers’ Award – the only publicly-voted award in this year’s ceremony,” she said. “The shortlist for the Gamers’ Award was effectively selected by the public, in that it comprised the top-selling games on each platform.”
Church of England officials were highly critical of the use of Manchester Cathedral as a setting for a battle between humans and alien invaders in the game, describing the game as “sick” and “sacrilegious” and demanding an apology, removal of the Cathedral from the game and a “substantial donation” to the Church as a form of reparations. While Sony did apologize to the Church and later to the people of Manchester, the Cathedral remained in the game.
