Ubisoft Responds to PETA Whaling Complaint

[Andy Chalk]

Ubisoft Responds to PETA Whaling Complaint

Ubisoft says it does not condone poor hygiene, hijacking ships, drunken debauchery - or illegal whaling.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, as we now know [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/previews/10216-Assassins-Creed-IV-Black-Flag-Sets-Sail-for-the-Caribbean], will be a swashbuckling tale of high-seas shenanigans set in the early 18th-century Caribbean, an era of piracy, plunder, murder - and whaling, which has People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wound up yet again over a videogame.

"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," a PETA rep said. "PETA encourages videogame companies to create games that celebrate animals - not games that promote hurting and killing them."

It's kind of a silly thing to get worked up about, especially since PETA appears to have no problem with the wholesale slaughter of virtual human beings for fun and profit, but Ubisoft nonetheless took a moment to respond in what I think is both an even-handed and subtly zingtastic fashion.

"History is our playground in Assassin's Creed. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is a work of fiction that depicts the real events during the Golden Era of Pirates," the publisher said in a statement. "We do not condone illegal whaling, just as we don't condone a pirate lifestyle of poor hygiene, plundering, hijacking ships, and over-the-legal-limit drunken debauchery."

The International Whaling Commission placed a ban on commercial whaling in 1986 in order to allow depleted whale populations an opportunity to recover, but some nations continue the hunt.

Source: VentureBeat [http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/06/ubisoft-to-peta-we-do-not-condone-whaling-just-as-we-dont-condone-a-pirate-lifestyle/#uKrY5EH0xQbEJMIJ.99]


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[mjc0961]

"We only condone milking our franchise harder than Call of Duty, except on a worse scale, because whereas Call of Duty pretty much stays the same every year, we continue to drop the quality of the Assassin's Creed franchise every year."

I honestly don't know how anyone can care about Assassin's Creed these days between the yearly release schedule and the complete pile of utter shit that was Liberation.

 

[BloodRed Pixel]

"PETA encourages videogame companies to create games that celebrate animals - not games that promote hurting and killing them."
of ANIMALS - that is NOT PETS which PETA are killing by the hundreds.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/4988-Skin-Game

 

[rofltehcat]

Well, in that case the whaling in the game will only be for scientific purposes.

 

[gigastar]

I honestly don't know how anyone can care about Assassin's Creed these days between the yearly release schedule and the complete pile of utter shit that was Liberation.

Nobody played Liberation, because nobody owns a Vita.

 

[synobal]

Whales are delicious. That is all.

 

[EvilChameleon]

And PETA continues to be irrelevant. Fantastic job.

 

[SonOfMethuselah]

I honestly don't know how anyone can care about Assassin's Creed these days between the yearly release schedule and the complete pile of utter shit that was Liberation.

Nobody played Liberation, because nobody owns a Vita.

I own a Vita and I still didn't play Liberation. I'm not that hard up for things to play.

OT: Oh, sweet Jesus, let us have our games. It's not like people who play this game are ever going to be in the position where they've the opportunity to kill whales. I understand the complaint about violent video games to an extent, because people are in positions where they can commit violence quite often, but honestly, when was the last time you found yourself in a scenario where killing a whale was something you could have realistically achieved? Very few gamers have the time, money or resources for that.

"This video game was created by a multicultural team of various religions, faiths and beliefs. No real whales were harmed in the making of this games, except the ones we had to kill for food and blubber to keep us warm and happy while we worked on it."

 

[Treblaine]

PS: thanks for the free publicity

I'm sure that was in the message somewhere. Maybe lost between the lines, perhaps?

 

[Sargonas42]

Sometimes I think that PETA picks fights about things like this just to keep their name in the headlines and try to stay relevant, rather then focus their time and money where it is best put regardless of how much press it may generate.

I honestly don't know how anyone can care about Assassin's Creed these days between the yearly release schedule and the complete pile of utter shit that was Liberation.

You act like the yearly release schedule is a new thing?


AC - 2007
AC: - Altair's Chronicles: 2008
AC2: - 2009
AC2: - Brotherhood 2010
AC2: - Revelations 2011
AC3: - 2013

That's one a year for 6 years since the first came out. (Actually more than 1 a year if you count the Vita and DS and other titles I skipped.) Nothing new here.

 

[ramboondiea]

"We do not condone illegal whaling, just as we don't condone a pirate lifestyle of poor hygiene, plundering, hijacking ships, and over-the-legal-limit drunken debauchery."

so under the legal limit debauchery is okay? you know Ubisoft, im beginning to like you again lately haha.

its nice of them to answer, even if i believe organisations like PETA should just be ignored. also seems just asinine of them (par the course) to moan about it tho, it always reminds me of when the awarded fable 2 the best game due to its being animal friendly and supporting there views on vegetarianism, you know, despite how the game tells you to each baby chicks haha

 

[kortin]

Now I hope that there is whaling in Black Flag, just because PETA.

Also, whaling is a part of history, both current and past, there's no reason to sit and pretend it didn't and doesn't happen.

 

[james.sponge]

I don't get it, in Dishonored the whole industry was based around whaling, hey they even had a scene with a giant dead whale hanging from some factory entrance. No one complained about that. Those PETA attention seekers make me sick ugh...

 

[Darmy647]

you know what would be interesting? If we had a committee thats sole purpose was to stop the industry from releasing shitty games. I wonder if such a thing could EVER exist? I mean enough of us find this and that bad and enough of us voice our opinions..wouldn't that be weird? I wonder what we would call it? PAPV? People against poor video games? I dont know, thinking too much.

OT: We've killed a LOT of things in videogames. I mean hell, like that guy said, we murdered wolves by the dozen in skyrim. We even murdered the crap out of random animals IF WE CHOSE TO. Its alll about choice man. Just because the choice is in there doesn't mean the company should be hated for it. The person who made the choice should stand accountable for himself/herself. I mean in postal 2 i shot up an entire town and pissed on each body with equal love. yet i read books happily and go to work just fine. Whatever man lol.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

To be honest, I'm more concerned that the game isn't about Henry Rollins running around stabbing people.

 

[Andy Shandy]

I suppose this is as close to a "Just shut the fuck up, PETA" that we're going to get from a big publisher, so I'll take it.

Well played, Ubisoft.

 

[Bob_F_It]

Ubisoft's stance on stabbing people in the neck: unknown.

As for PETA, they don't seem to know what creative media is all about - probably believe that anything the television shows is made fact.

 

[Dead Seerius]

Wow, some friend you turned out to be, Ubisoft.
This whole time you guys led me to believe you had my back concerning my 'frowned upon' hobby of hijacking boats, but you were really just deceiving me.

Way to bail on me, guys. And just to appease PETA no less. For shame.

OT: PETA once again seeks mainstream attention, chuckles ensue.

 

[Stavros Dimou]

They are out of place. I think these people at PETA are dangerous.
Can't decide if they are uber-trolls or just really really stupid.