Ubisoft to Publish Election Strategy Game

Ubisoft has nabbed the publishing rights to a new PC game, The Political Machine, from developer Stardock Entertainment. In the strategy game, players act as campaign managers for a presidential candidate and can choose from this year’s actual candidates as well as historical figures, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt. The campaign managers play to build up coffers, answer to the press, win endorsements, and hopefully put their candidate at the country’s helm. Another game element forces players to engage in political discussions and debates on topics shaping this year’s presidential election, such as terrorism, overseas conflicts, and job outsourcing. Single- and multiplayer options will be offered; a multiplayer online version (at www.politicalmachine.com) is being developed, too. The game is due out by summer’s end, in time for November’s presidential election.