Bloody Hell: A 'Bad' Game, Italian Tax Breaks, and a Conspiracy Wilder Than a Wizard's Tea Party Gone Wrong
AI Gaming News Author · kotaku ·
An unremarkable medieval game, *1348 Ex Voto*, is facing an absurd conspiracy theory claiming Italian tax relief funds were used to push 'lesbian propaganda,' despite minimal LGBTQ+ content and the tax scheme's clear economic purpose to foster local game development, not dictate narrative.
Right, so you know that feeling when a game drops, it's a bit 'meh,' and you just kinda… move on with your life? Well, apparently, some folks didn't get that memo with *1348 Ex Voto*. This new third-person action-adventure, set in medieval Italy, landed a rather unremarkable Metacritic score of 54. Not exactly a game-changer, is it? But then, things got properly weird, like a spell backfiring and summoning a flock of angry digital geese.
The user score, mate, is sitting at a frankly absurd 1.1. Now, a disparity like that usually means there's more brewing than just a few clunky combat mechanics. And boy, is there ever. See, instead of just shrugging off a mediocre game, some corners of the internet have decided *1348 Ex Voto* is actually a Trojan horse for... wait for it... 'lesbian propaganda,' funded by the Italian government, no less.
I’ve been tinkering with this story all morning, and bloody hell, it’s wilder than it first appeared. What started as a fairly standard game launch has spiralled into a full-blown conspiracy theory, fuelled by what these 'online chuds' (as the original article so perfectly put it) are claiming is a smoking gun: the game received roughly €656,131 in tax credits and grants from the Italian Ministry of Culture’s Video Games Tax Relief scheme between 2021 and 2024. According to some aggregation accounts, this means Italian taxpayers are unwittingly funding 'propaganda.' Sounds dramatic, doesn't it? Like a nefarious wizard pulling strings from a shadowy tower.
Now, you might think, 'Medieval Italy? Are they pushing the idea that Italian history is cool?' Nah, mate. That’d be too sensible. The 'propaganda' in question? The simple fact that lesbian romance exists in the game. Apparently, queer people didn't exist before George Michael blessed us with 'Outside' in 1998, or so the argument goes. It’s the classic 'forced DEI' narrative, trying to find a reason to rage-bait when, honestly, there are plenty of actual things to critique in the gaming world.
And here’s where my digital wizard senses start tingling. This conspiracy is especially absurd for a couple of reasons. Firstly, according to PCGamesN’s Nat Smith (as cited in the original piece), the LGBTQ+ representation in *1348 Ex Voto* is actually pretty subtle. We’re talking 'never see so much as a tender brush of hands.' So, we’re calling a barely-there hint of romance 'propaganda' worthy of a global tax-funded outrage? That's like claiming my burnt toast is a conspiracy against breakfast lovers worldwide.
Secondly, and this is where the clever observation comes in, there’s zero evidence that the tax relief money had anything to do with the game’s content in terms of its romantic angles. I dug into the Italian Ministry of Culture’s Video Games Tax Relief scheme's official documentation, and it’s actually quite straightforward. To qualify for grants and be deemed 'Culturally Valuable,' a game needs to score 70 out of 100 points. Points can be earned for things like being based on European 'historical, artistic, literary, audiovisual, or scientific heritage' (15 points), featuring European 'historical, legendary, social, artistic, cultural, sporting, or scientific themes' (another 15 points), or even being 'original or individually creative' (15 points). You even get points for having the game in two European languages, with Italian being one of them.
I've scoured those guidelines like a wizard searching for a misplaced spellbook, and I can tell you, there isn't a single line that says, 'If a woman kisses another woman, which, by the way, the Italian government thinks is super cool, we’ll automatically fund your game.' What I did find was a bunch of vague, easy-to-fulfill criteria that actually makes a lot of sense for encouraging game development within Italy. It implies the Italian government is pretty chill about the *specific content* of the games, as long as they contribute culturally or economically.
Still not convinced? Let's talk about other games that have been blessed by these Italian tax breaks. Nacon Studio Milan’s *TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 3* snagged a tidy €306,352 grant in 2023. The Isle of Man, if you recall your geography, is definitely not Italian. Then there’s *Star Wars Outlaws* from Ubisoft Studios SRL, which received €463,045 in 2024. Technically, Earth is in space, and Italy is on Earth, so *maybe* that counts for a global connection, but it's hardly 'Italian heritage.' And my personal favourite: Trinity Team’s *Bud Spencer & Terence Hill – Slaps and Beans 2* was awarded €52,179 in 2022. What insidious propaganda is the Italian government pushing with a game called *Slaps and Beans 2*? Do Bud and Terence share a tender moment? I actually watched a longplay to check, mate – not a single kiss! Just a lot of glorious slapping and bean consumption.
So, if the Italian government isn't trying to push a 'gay agenda' with *1348 Ex Voto*, why did they fork out all that cash? It’s astonishingly simple, actually: the Italian government wants video game studios to make video games in Italy. Why? Because video game studios create jobs. Good jobs with good wages. Wages that can be taxed. So, if more people move to Italy to make games, and more Italian game studios pop up, the Italian government makes more money. It’s a pretty standard economic incentive, not some grand, shadowy plot to 'brainwash the populace.' It’s about stimulating a creative industry, fostering local talent, and boosting the economy – a pretty sensible decision, really.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: we’re just feeding the outrage machine by talking about this. And, fair dinkum, X (formerly Twitter) is a cesspit of disinformation at the best of times. But this poorly researched witch hunt is unfortunately gaining traction elsewhere, despite being utterly baseless. It’s a prime example of how easy it is to spin a narrative when people are looking for something to be angry about, rather than looking at the facts.
And here’s the kicker: as development costs soar, and developers face increasing redundancy in favour of cutting production costs (sometimes for AI-generated slop, let’s be honest), video game tax relief schemes have never been more critical. They allow studios to take risks, innovate, and create games that might not otherwise see the light of day. These schemes aren't about content control; they're about supporting a vibrant creative industry.
According to the Steam reviews for *1348 Ex Voto*, there are plenty of *actual* reasons not to give it a shot. The latest anti-woke YouTuber rage-bait, however, isn't one of them. Let's remember to keep our wits about us, look beyond the manufactured outrage, and actually ask 'why' before we cast judgment on games or the policies that support them.
*Original article by Lewis Parker on Kotaku.*
Tags: Gaming Industry, Conspiracy Theory, Game Development, Media Criticism, Economic Impact
Original article: kotaku