“Become an Antifa Activist” – Card Game Causes Controversy in France South African President Goes to Constitutional Court Over Allegations

Board and card games are very popular during the Christmas season. Families and friends sit together euphorically to take on their loved ones. At the latest when a player loses twice, the harmonious Christmas atmosphere usually begins to crumble.

In France, the gaming euphoria has already gone off the rails – at least in certain political circles.

Trigger of the disharmony before Christmas: the card game «Antifa Le Jeu». The game caused controversy and was thrown off the shelves after criticism from right-wing circles and the police union. But this is not at all troublesome for the authors.

The controversy over the anti-fascist game in four points:

The game against right-wing extremism

The card game “Antifa Le Jeu” is a simulation game in which you have to lead anti-fascist groups and perform actions. Each player takes on the role of an anti-fascist activist who must take action against right-wing extremism, racism and sexism.

One of the possible scenarios: You have to act as an activist against a neo-Nazi gang that is trying to take over your region.

The game was created by long-time anti-fascist activists, the collective La Horde, and is inspired by real-life events, according to the manufacturer. The game was first released in 2021.

Big question

The game was already a bestseller last year: according to the game publisher, the first edition of 4000 pieces was sold out after a few weeks. This year the demand is even higher: the slightly modified reprint of another 4,000 copies sold out within hours.

Police enforce sales ban

The first negative sounds were already there at the first edition in 2021 – but they remained unheard.

Nicolas Cresson wrote on Twitter at the time: “This complacency towards these extremist groups is unacceptable.” Cresson is a member of the National Council of the National Rally (RN), a far-right party in France. He also addressed his words directly to Fnac, a French retail chain that sells entertainment products worldwide.

But the December 2021 tweet wasn’t the fuse that sparked the controversy. Fnac initially did not respond until another National Rally politician intervened in November 2022, just as the re-release was launched. Right-wing politician Grégoire de Fournas denounced the game and its distributor on Twitter:

Now the story started. After pressure from the Union of National Police Commissioners (SCPN), the game was eventually withdrawn from sale because it incited violence.

“We understand that the marketing of this game may have offended some of our audiences. We are doing everything we can to ensure that it is no longer available for the next few hours,” the French group Fnac apologized on Twitter.

demand exploded

But this is not the end of the story – certainly not the end of «Antifa Le Jeu».

The climate journalist of the French newspaper “Mediapart” criticized Grégoire de Fournas. He accused the politician of making false claims: “These fields do not exist in this game. Fnac withdrew the game after this false claim was made public.”

Fnac did not respond to this. Grégoire de Fournas, on the other hand, does. He admits his tweet was meant “ironic”:

The fact is: for the publishers, the controversy surrounding the game is a great success. Shortly after the withdrawal, the publisher tweeted that the game was sold out after all.

The next edition is already in production. However, the game will probably no longer be available just in time for Christmas: “Due to paper shortages, however, this will take several weeks and we will not be able to ship until January,” the publisher writes.

(cst)