Trying to talk your way in controversial subjects would only lead to nothing but shouting and clash of opinions, most especially when you put religion in the mix. While the industry of video games is willing to court controversies when there’s a worthwhile payoff waiting, the concepts of faith and spirituality are being avoided both by publishers and developers. Just try to take a look at Diablo II items download on how each item is carefully crafted to avoid any of these issues.
Whether you believe it or not, religion appear to be a taboo subject to be included in video games, that the only kind of faith that appears in titles in US is Christianity. Still, the topic is addressed poorly in games that are poorly made.
But why are religious contents are sparse in video games? The answers for this depend largely on contention between industry and religious leaders. Not to mention, the fact that it is rare to find a topic that is as personal and as deep as faith.
Don’t Try Pleasing Everyone
Christianity is not the only religion that appears in games or the only one in which various spiritual leaders are offended by the presentation of their faith on gaming consoles or PCs.
In fact, Sony learned recently that the launching of their new game title LittleBigPlanet has featured quotes from Qur’an after using Tapha Niang as the game’s background music pieces.
When Islamic gamers heard of this song and noticed Arabic words from Qur’an, it was verified that he was not hearing anything and reported it to Sony through company’s forum. After pinpointing specific instances of quotes from Qur’an, it was explained that the problem is represented for Muslims. It’s so deep that Muslims considered the mixing of words and music from their holy book to be deeply offending. The track is requested to be removed immediately from the game through an online patch.
Serious Issues, Immediate Actions
Sony handled the matter promptly and seriously. Thus, after doing investigation, the company delayed the release of the game and release a patch that has removed vocals from the soundtrack. Then the game developer, Media Molecule publicly apologized for the event and stated that the studio felt gutted with the controversy it caused.