Violence against virtual humans in games, and the politicians are up in arms. Violence against virtual animals, and here comes PETA.
With nautical adventure playing such a heavy hand in the game (40% according to a leaked Q&A document from Ubisoft) obviously some sea-faring side missions would have a role. When news broke one of those said side missions would be whaling, PETA weighed in like a cop in a donut factory.
The organization says in a statement to VentureBeat:
"Whaling-that is, shooting whales with harpoons and leaving them to struggle for an hour or more before they die or are hacked apart while they are still alive-may seem like something out of the history books, but this bloody industry still goes on today in the face of international condemnation, and it's disgraceful for any game to glorify it.PETA encourages video game companies to create games that celebrate animals-not games that promote hurting and killing them."
Funny how they mention history books, as that's exactly where the "Creed" settings are pulled from. And funny how small measures of historical accuracy that play an infinitesimally small role in a game can be such a thorn in peoples' sides.
This isn't PETA's first rodeo taking on video games. The group's previously lashed out at "Super Meat Boy," "Pokemon," "World of Warcraft," and others. They've even taken issue for everyone's favorite plumber when he donned a tanooki suit, claiming Mario actually ripped the skin from the animal.
Funny, I don't recall PETA saying anything about "Dishonored," which features whaling far more heavily than as just an optional side mission.
Despite the organization decrying the upcoming title, I wouldn't count on anything actually changing in the game. Ubisoft is trickling out more "Assassin's Creed 4" information every day. We'll keep you posted as more comes out.
