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Another Video Game Is on Netflix's House of Cards [SPOILERS]

Watch Frank Underwood play Agar.io and compare it to politics.

27 Comments

[THIS POST CONTAINS HOUSE OF CARDS STORY SPOILERS]

Past seasons of Netflix's political drama House of Cards featured references to video games, and now we've learned the same is true for Season 4. This time around Frank Underwood, who is now President of the United States, is passing time by playing Agar.io, one of the top trending games of all of 2015.

Here is a clip from the show (via Kotaku):

Sam Smith, a community manager at Agar.io distributor Miniclip, talked to Kotaku about how the game ended up landing on the show.

"We received a call from the House of Cards production team, out of the blue. They already knew about the game and wanted to include it in the show, and naturally we were delighted to be a part of it," he said. "We worked closely with the House of Cards production team: we made a special build of the game that had the Obama skins taken out so that it better fit the House of Cards universe."

Smith went on to say that the fact that House of Cards wanted to feature Agar.io "underlines it as a cultural phenomenon."

Agar.io is a free-to-play multiplayer browser and strategy game that has proven to be a huge hit following its release in 2015. You play as a cell in a petri dish with the goal of expanding your mass by eating other players, while simultaneously avoiding being gobbled up by others.

Underwood compares it in the show to the race for president.

Other games featured in past episodes of House of Cards have included The Stanley Parable and Monument Valley, among others. There is also a scene where Underwood--played by Kevin Spacey--expresses his delight in seeing a PlayStation Vita in a moment that felt a lot like paid product placement.

Additionally, a major Season 3 storyline sees Underwood hiring a former game reviewer to write his biography.

House of Cards has been renewed for a fifth season; who knows what Underwood will play next.

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Kalgert

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I wonder if Kevin Spacey also took up to gaming after playing so many games in this show.

I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if that is how he would be passing his time... In that case: I want to play The Division with Kevin Spacey! I am afraid that if I were to go to the Dark Zone with him, he will go turncoat and shoot me in the back, taking all of the sweet loot and be very smug about it afterwards.

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maitkarro

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Mitosis is way better.

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brn-dn

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Edited By brn-dn

I've never watched the show but the clip where he is talking about PS Vita is so crazy.

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randomperson7

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Edited By randomperson7

...What is gamespot anymore? This just just so random and irrelevant. Stick to news about games, not news that happens to feature A game. And what's with all this comics and movie fluff? The title of the website is becoming misleading. It's pretty much "Entertainment media Spot". They're turning into MTV -_-

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maitkarro

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@randomperson7: You know it has entertainment section. So why are you whining it being here.

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fig56

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@randomperson7: The Gamespot you knew is dead. Conform to the new Gamespot or be destroyed.

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hystavito

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@7tizz: I've never seen the show but I'm just going to believe you :).

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MILK

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Never heard of this Agario game.

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Trenchcoats67

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he should play terra battle, though im not sure how it would translate in the way he compares agar.io to politics.... It helps yo gang up on uou opponent maybe?

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LouiXIII

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And this is news?

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Zerohournow

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@louixiii: as that was a comment? Aren't we past pointing out the painful irony that is takes to click on a article, read it (in theory) and then take the time to complain about what a waste of time the article was? Do you get so little attention in life that you have to do this?

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LouiXIII

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@zerohournow: Sorry but I didn't think your article was worth posting. I'm sure plenty of other people will but I do don't. Accept it and move on xD or...write something that I find worthy of leaving a longer comment.

Oh...and to answer your question, yes..that was definitely a comment lol

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DoubleM-K

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He seemed to love COD or was it Battlefield? So this indie whatever, seems unlikely for him to be gaming. He should be gaming The Division ;) Or the newer COD/Battlefield..

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InnerSpace

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@doublem-k: His growing interest in indie games actually segueways into a major plot point. Remember, the whole reason he hired Tom on was because of his review of an indie video game. The creators actually seem to like Underwood as a gamer as a way to underscore his political 'control freak' tendencies, and without having to shamelessly plug Playstation games, there'll probably be more indie and less COD.

Also, it was Killzone that he was playing :P

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DoubleM-K

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@innerspace: Ha ha okay Killzone then :D

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Spartan_418

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Edited By Spartan_418

@doublem-k: First and second seasons, you see him playing Killzone 3 and God of War: Ascension.

Season 1 also had the "is that a PS Vita??" moment. Nope, no Sony involvement here, definitely not...

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DoubleM-K

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@Spartan_418: Sony, who is talking about Sony?

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Spartan_418

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@doublem-k: This needs to be explained?

I'm jokingly accusing Sony of paid product placement on House of Cards, because all of the games and platforms you see in Seasons 1 and 2 are of the PlayStation variety.

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jaoman9

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thats not a video game its a shitty flash game.

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jinzo9988

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Edited By jinzo9988

@jaoman9: Agario is fun in short bursts. I won't even try to pretend like it's nothing when back in my day Newgrounds was the shit and everybody was on there playing games alongside the "real" games like Quake 3, UT and CS. Same appeal, different generation of gamers who are in high school and playing that stuff. When I was that age, Newgrounds, eBaum's World, Albino Blacksheep and South Park Klik & Play games were all the rage. Kids will be kids.

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R4gn4r0k

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"Watch Frank Underwood play Agar.io and compare it to politics."

Top gaming news, dawgs !

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Saidrex

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Edited By Saidrex

Worlds most popular hobby pops up in movies on occasion... Fascinating. I would be more surprised if it didn't....

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Spartan_418

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Edited By Spartan_418

@Saidrex: What's notable about HoC here is that the main character, a corrupt/manipulative politician, also happens to be a gamer. It's not just the mere fact that video games are featured in the show.

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R4gn4r0k

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@Spartan_418: TBH, it would be funnier if he played COD: Advanced Warfare and saw himself.

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Spartan_418

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Edited By Spartan_418

@R4gn4r0k: Heh, given all the self-referential fourth-wall-breaking the show does, that would actually be quite fitting.

Perhaps if Spacey appears again in Advanced Warfare 2, they could do it as an Activision marketing stunt.

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R4gn4r0k

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@Spartan_418: The best thing would be making him a main character in AW2.

I mean I'd love to play as myself in a video game. And I imagine if like Football players play as themselves in Madden or Soccer players play as themselves in Fifa. It'd just be great !

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