In a near-future vision of Pittsburgh, a new video game presents a sharply contrasting view of a city transformed by ecosocialist principles. "Future? No Thanks!," developed by Paolo Pedercini, an Italian-born artist and game designer at Carnegie Mellon University, imagines a climate-conscious, unionized urban landscape where solar panels dominate the skyline and environmental sustainability is paramount.
The game, which was released for PC and Mac in early September after several months of delay, casts players as a curmudgeonly older character who resists the progressive changes around him. Within this freely explorable digital Steel City, players complete activities that highlight their protagonist’s nostalgic preference for the early 21st century—such as driving gasoline-powered cars and smoking cigars—underscoring tensions between past and future social ideals.
Pedercini’s work builds on his history of politically charged video games. He gained early attention for “Phone Story” (2011), a title that critically examined the exploitative supply chains behind smartphones and was removed from mainstream app stores. With "Future? No Thanks!," Pedercini shifts focus to envisioning societal remedies amid pressing global issues. He cited accelerating climate change, the rise of authoritarianism, and growing economic inequality as motivating factors behind the game’s creation. “It’s not even about our great-grandchildren being able to survive and live comfortably,” he said. “It’s about us and our very immediate material conditions.”
The gameplay has been described as an indie take on open-world titles like Grand Theft Auto but with a distinctly didactic tone. The narrative blends satire and humor, with it poking fun at both the political left and right. For instance, elderly characters debate the Bechdel test in a care home, while children attend a fictional Hypermontessori School. Lawns are outlawed to promote biodiversity, and an artificial intelligence supercomputer modeled after Karl Marx serves as a key non-player character—a nod to Chile’s 1970s Project Cybersyn experiment under Salvador Allende’s government.
Pedercini’s approach contrasts with mainstream video game trends that often avoid overt ideology to appeal to broader audiences. Instead, "Future? No Thanks!" delivers a pointed political message through its skeptical protagonist, who dismisses the city’s progressive model as “new age, woo-woo crap.” Yet Pedercini maintains that the game’s vision aligns with real-world political momentum, citing figures such as New York Mayor Zokhran Mamdani and the rising wave of democratic socialist movements.
Developed largely solo over five years, the game features full 3-D environments and voice acting from a local Pittsburgh theater company. Its production coincided with a challenging period for the independent gaming industry, marked by widespread layoffs and a decline in funding. The release was further complicated by content restrictions imposed by Steam, the online distribution platform, which scrutinized the game’s brief, stylized nudity, causing delays lasting months.
Despite these hurdles, Pedercini embraces the project as an “exercise in resourcefulness,” aiming to create an ambitious, politically engaged game outside the influence of major publishers and commercial pressures. The final product stands as both a creative critique of contemporary society and a hopeful illustration of an alternative future.