Crackdown 3 does not shy away from a political reference
The new Crackdown game makes a not so subtle reference to the catastrophic increase in food bank use across the UK.
Sumo Digital have littered a few political gags in the Crackdown 3 sandbox but one that will stand out to British gamers will be the inclusion of a location called “Theresa’s food bank.” An asterisk indicates “restrictions apply.”
Located just outside the shantytown on the coast of the game map, UK gaming journalist Jordan Oloman made the spot.
Other games: politics are bad for business#Crackdown3: pic.twitter.com/KPC6GbE1G9
— Jordan Oloman (@JordanOloman) February 14, 2019
Sumo is a UK-based developer, with offices in Nottingham, Newcastle and Sheffield. UK food bank use is at its highest level since records began, with 1,332,952 three-day emergency food supplies delivered to people in crisis across the UK in the year to March 2018 (a 13 per cent increase on the year before), figures from the Trussel Trust show.
Amber Rudd, the secretary for work and pensions, recently admitted that the government’s rollout of Universal Credit is to blame for an increase in the use of food banks, after years of denial by successive ministers.
Speaking in the Commons, Rudd said: “We are committed to a strong safety net where people need it.
“It is absolutely clear that there were challenges with the initial rollout of universal credit –and the main issue that led to an increase in food bank use could have been the fact that people had difficulty accessing their money early enough.
“We have made changes to accessing universal credit so that people can have advances, so that there is a legacy run-on after two weeks of housing benefit, and we believe that will help with food and security.”
She added: “I have acknowledged that people having difficulty accessing the money on time as one of the causes of the growth in food banks, but we have tried to address that.”
