Far Cry 6 Emails Mock You For Not Playing It Enough | Screen Rant
In a unique marketing twist, Far Cry 6 players were sent emails mocking them for not playing the game enough. Far Cry has built itself a reputation as a brand with a somewhat irreverent tone, so this fits right in with that. A quick glimpse at the Far Cry story so far shows plenty of good-natured antagonism at the player, and these emails are in the same vein.
The Far Cry series has a long-standing tradition of pretty bombastic presentation, from Far Cry 3’s hallucinogenic sequences to Far Cry 5’s story revolving around a cult. The Far Cry antagonists are also known to openly confront and mock main characters - and, by proxy, the player - taunting them and belittling their achievements. Vaas Montenegro from Far Cry 3 is probably the most well-known of the series’ antagonists, but the recent entries in the series have each featured antagonists with unique, somewhat personal relationships with the main character. Far Cry 6 - which takes place on the fictional Caribbean island of Yara - sees players pitted against Antón Castillo, the tyrannical president of the island (though his villainous nature may actually be in question).
It appears the President of Yara himself is reaching out, with user BrendanSinclair posting a Tweet showing marketing emails from Far Cry 6 that feature Castillo taunting the player for how little they’ve accomplished in-game. The email subject line says, “You disappoint me,” and seems to include the player’s name or gamertag. The body of the email contains stats that Castillo seemingly finds lacking, including low playtime (in the Tweet above, the player only has 3 hours of playtime in the game). Interestingly, another user replied to say that they also got an email, though their message mocked them for their perceived accomplishments accumulated over more playtime. Given Castillo seems like he’ll be sticking around the Far Cry series for the foreseeable future, this may just be the start of his antagonism.
It is interesting to note how Far Cry 6 interacts with players even after the game’s been turned off. Though Far Cry 6 can be played offline for those who prefer that, it still connects to Ubisoft servers and to players' Ubisoft accounts, and so data about each player’s experience in the game can be drawn upon for marketing purposes. While this does provide opportunity for a unique, somewhat individualized advertisement campaign, it may not be the most well-received strategy. In their tweet, BrendanSinclair said, “A lot of games are already ruthlessly designed to maximize engagement, but now they email and hassle you if you dare to stop playing them.” So, while the game may have a lot going for it - including some great Far Cry 6 pettable animals - its emails may leave something to be desired.
With the advent of social media, marketing campaigns are getting more personal than ever. Reactions to this outreach strategy are mixed, but one thing is for sure: Far Cry 6 is keeping tabs, and it wants players to know it.
Far Cry 6 is available on Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC.
Source: BrendanSinclair/Twitter