In a strange case of reality following fiction, the death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il was predicted – down to the year – by THQ’s recent videogame, Homefront. Developer Kaos Studios worked with a former CIA officer who specialized in North Korea, Tae Kim. With the death of the 69 year old president, the next step in the science fiction game chronicled the rise of North Korea under the iron rule of Kim Jung-Un. Kim talked about the future scenario in 2009 in this exclusive video below.

According to the official game’s press material: In 2012, just over one year after the death of Kim Jong-Il, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reunites North and South Korea to form the Greater Korean Republic. The influence of China and the United States decline in the face of continued economic stagnation and a war between Iran and Saudi Arabia that disrupts Middle Eastern oil supplies, while oil and gas to Western Europe is cut off by a Russian-Ukrainian “mutual interest” deal. As the United States withdraws overseas troops to deal with domestic instability, including the Texas secession debate and an outbreak of bird flu known as the Knoxville Cough, the Greater Korean Republic annexes Japan and Southeast Asia. By 2022, the United States faces extreme economic turmoil and massive social unrest, culminating in complete economic collapse.

Developer Crytek is working on Homefront II, which will continue the story of an America occupied by Korea.

About the Author

John Gaudiosi

Editor-in-Chief

John Gaudiosi has been covering videogames for the past 20 years for outlets like The Washington Post, CNET, Wired Magazine and CBS.com. He has focused on the convergence of entertainment and videogames for outlets like Video Business, Home Media Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Gamerlive.TV and is also a freelance game columnist for Reuters and writes for outlets like Forbes.com, NVISION, Official PlayStation Magazine, EGM Now, Geek Monthly, PrimaGames.com, and Yahoo! Games. John also serves as the video game expert for NBC in Washington D.C. and has produced videogame documentaries for The History Channel and Starz Entertainment. John was named one of the Top 50 Game Journalists in the world by Next-Gen.biz in 2007. He is the co-author of Scholastic Books' How to Get into Videogames, Prima Publishing's Madden: Twenty Years of Videogame Football and Electronic Arts: The Official History.