Image via: Asmongold/YouTube
Under review at Gamescom 2025, Asmongold’s disparaging opinions of Take Us North have in turn also commandeered the public discourse on social media not only about the nature of the game itself but more so about the role of video games in reacting to politically sensitive matters.
The Game: A Border Crossing Narrative
Developed by the indie studio Anima Interactive, Take Us North focuses on the traumatic experiences of migrants attempting an illegal crossing into the US through Mexico. The studio head, Karla Reyes, has described the project as “deeply rooted in research” and wrapping down the whole effort with an emphasis on “telling these stories authentically” to “shift hearts and minds.”Simply put, it is just about more than entertainment. According to Reyes, its purpose is to enlighten people, this narrative experience attempts to express the human side of migration.
It is a narrative about survival, resilience, and systemic injustice, thereby landing on the frontier of art, activism, and gaming.
The Illegal Migrant Simulator is insane..
Asmongold’s Reaction: “This Isn’t a Game; It’s Propaganda”
Known for straightforward unfiltered-type opinions about gaming culture, Asmongold quickly dismissed the project. In a reaction video for YouTube entitled The Illegal Migrant Simulator is Insane.., he had some choice words for Reyes’ framing, boldly declaring: “This isn’t a game.
It’s propaganda.”The streamer rejected the message of the game, stating that the issues they present are oversimplified. He then proceeded to voice a contradictory view that counters Reyes’ statement that Americans are often “reductive to Mexicans:” ” They’re stealing the jobs. They’re creating more traffic. They overload social systems. They steal people’s identities to get government benefits. They steal…entitlement
programs like food stamps, etc.”
Gaming as an Art or Political Statement?
Hence, we see the emergence of a classic question within the discourse of gaming: Should video games act as vehicles of political expression? Over time, more and more independent developers have made use of interactive storytelling to address social and humanitarian matters, titles such as Papers, Please and This War of Mine have earned laudation for their political sensibilities.
Take Us North Game – Official Teaser Trailer
But relevant to the title, shifting into the most controversial and mostly, slavishly touching on dividing politics about immigration into the US, Take Us North exercises a prime instance. For Reyes and those like him, games are powerful precisely for these reasons, while Asmongold believes that such kinds of entertainment are too activist.
Community Reaction and Fallout
There is a division amongst his fan base and critics; some argued he was right while propping up his view that gaming should be non-political, while others posit that developers should be free to put difficult topics into their games.
Adding yet more fuel to the fire, reports are circulating that after Asmongold’s reaction went viral, Anima Interactive’s official X account was deactivated; the reason remains uncertain, though speculations abound that it could have been a response to the online criticism against the studio.
A Debate That Won’t End Soon
Whether Take Us North can fulfill its grand goal of “shifting hearts and minds” remains to be seen; what we do know for sure is that the game immediately shot off a firestorm concerning politics in gaming.Bald and direct critique is just par for the course among Asmongold’s fans. For Reyes and company, however, this is only the beginning, undoubtedly the first sign that their project will ask much from-and evoke much reaction from-the audiences that view it. For the rest of the gaming-going populace, it almost stands in as another irritation reminding the people working within the media that games have ceased to be about fun-themselves, and are increasingly about perspective.
