Why We Won't Be Covering ModRetro Products Moving Forward 1
Image: Damien McFerran / Time Extension

ModRetro, the retro gaming company owned by Palmer Luckey, has garnered considerable media attention recently due to its excellent Chromatic handheld and its upcoming M64 FPGA N64 system.

We've given plenty of coverage to ModRetro products on this site, mainly because these products are aimed squarely at our target audience, and we personally find them interesting. The Chromatic, for example, is an excellent FPGA-based Game Boy clone.

However, ModRetro's recent announcement that it is manufacturing a Chromatic which comes with Anduril Industries branding is, for us, a step too far (Anduril is another of Palmer Luckey's companies, and is an American defence technology firm which develops autonomous weapon systems, including drones and planes).

That people might have an issue with supporting a product that directly benefits an arms dealer is pretty obvious – and we're sorry we didn't draw the line sooner. After our review of the ModRetro Chromatic went live, we were criticised (rightly) for not making its ties to Luckey clearer. We updated the review to make the connection plain, but we can appreciate that it was too little, too late for some of our readers.

Since ModRetro arrived on the scene, we tried to educate ourselves on Luckey's business practices and have slowly but surely come to the conclusion that covering ModRetro products is something we no longer feel morally comfortable doing.

You may (or may not) have noticed that we've scaled back our ModRetro coverage in the past month or so (we don't intend to review the M64), but the Anduril-branded Chromatic – a device which is almost ghoulish in celebrating its connection to the arms trade – is the final straw.

We're well aware that it's becoming increasingly difficult to draw a clear line between ethical and unethical coverage in the video game industry. Microsoft, for example, is a company whose business connections are causing many to rethink their support.

We believe it is essential to take a stand on this issue. From this point forward, we will no longer cover ModRetro products or report on ModRetro activities. We can appreciate that might not be what some of you wish to hear. Given ModRetro's activities in the world of retro hardware and publishing, it means we'll be omitting a significant amount of potential content from our coverage. ModRetro products are of a high standard, and the company is working with the likes of Wayforward and Argonaut on re-releasing classic Game Boy games.

Despite this, we can see that this is the right course of action, and we can only apologise for not recognising this sooner.