Far Cry 4 Creative Director Criticized Approach of Franchise’s Upcoming Show

As we know, FX is developing a new TV series based on Ubisoft’s Far Cry franchise. Noah Hawley, who is mostly known for Legion and Alien: Earth shows, is confirmed to be its producer. After a brief pause, we’re finally getting some details about the upcoming show—details that, so far, haven’t impressed gaming fans.

Last week, in the interview with Deadline, Hawley confirmed that the upcoming Far Cry series will not adapt any of the previous video game titles, and instead it will use a formula similar to games—where each season will be dedicated to different characters and stories. The fans were not really excited with this information—nor was the creative director of Far Cry 4, Alex Hutchinson. In the latest interview with IGN, he addressed Noah Hawley’s vision about the Far Cry series adaptation and revealed that "gamers just want to feel their loves are respected, not dismissed as they were often historically." You can check out the highlights from Hutchinson’s interview below:

“This is kinda pissing me off. And I like Noah Hawley's work.

I think in certain genres a lot of people skip cutscenes and certainly the player story takes primacy, but story is a complex topic in games. Theme, setting, character are all key to story and are certainly drivers of player engagement, so even if they're skipping some cinematics, they are deeply engaged in narrative as they occupy a role and move through a designed space.

The best Far Cry game to me is a fish out of water story, dropping the player as a 'normal' person with limited knowledge into an extreme situation with a bunch of toys and challenges. Then the story acts as both asking the player questions and then providing reactions based on the player's input.

My biggest problem is the dismissal of the game stories as pointless. His position isn't without merit, and his adaptions of Alien and Fargo also basically threw away history. This worked well in Fargo but less well in Alien, which turned into a kind of weird Peter Pan gets a dog story instead of remaining true to the best elements of the brand.”

At the same time, one of Far Cry’s producers, Rob Mac, who is mostly known for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, confirmed that the shooting process for the show will start this autumn, and he will also be playing one of the roles. In the interview with Collider, unlike Alex Hutchinson, he called Noah Hawley a “genius” and shared that the upcoming Far Cry TV series will be "grueling and brutal, and also a beautiful love story" but also a "love letter to the game" as well.

As for Far Cry video games, Ubisoft confirmed that new games are in development; however, according to insider Tom Henderson, the franchise is “going through hell” at the moment. Previous rumors and reports suggested the next standalone adventure of Far Cry could take place in Alaska or New England, and the multiplayer title will be an extraction shooter.

Do you agree with the statement of Alex Hutchinson, the creative director of Far Cry 4, about Noah Hawley’s decision not to tie the series with video game events? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The release date of Far Cry TV series is currently unknown.