With the winds of Hinduism and cultural correctness on the rise, it seems nothing will be spared, including video games. Hindu religious leader Rajan Zed from the US, has asked Blizzard to remove the Devi skin for Symmetra from its popular game, Overwatch. This isn’t the first time that Zed has raised objections to the portrayal of Hindu gods in a game. Earlier he launched a tirade against the makers of the popular MOBA game, Smite. Hi-rez, the makers of Smite however, have more or less ignored Zed’s complaints as there are seven playable Hindu deity avatars in the game with a distinct possibility of more being added.
Zed’s main argument has been that the games fail to accurately portray and capture the essence of the gods being portrayed and that somehow diminishes their importance. He feels that as leaders of the industry, companies like Blizzard have a responsibility to uphold their own core values of accuracy and not hurt the religious sentiments of other communities. Essentially, Zed’s complaint to Blizzard is that Symmetra’s Devi skin trivialiSes Hinduism because the way the character moves and looks with the skin does not match the description of the goddess as given in scripture. Zed feels that it was Blizzard’s responsibility to ensure accuracy and correctness, so as to not offend Hindus.
It still remains to be seen how Blizzard will react to the complaint. Will they take the Hi-rez route and completely ignore him, or will they alter the Devi skin to make it less “controversial” and more along the lines of what scripture dictates. I personally hope they take the former option and not give such attention seekers the time of day.
