Hindu statesman Rajan Zed expressed his dismay on Saturday over Hi-Rez Studios decision not to remove Hindu deities such as the goddess Kali from the free-to-play MOBA, SMITE.
The controversy began on Wendesday when Zed called on Hi-Rez Studios to remove Hindu deities Kali, Agni and Vamana from SMITE. Chief Operating Officer Todd Harris said that Hinduism was an inspiration for the deities in the game along with other mythologies from the Norse, Greek, Chinese and Egyptian cultures. He went on to say that the PC title would receive more deities, not fewer. In fact, SMITE added the Chinese character, Guan Yu, on Friday.
Zed says that Hindus are "shocked" that the independent Atlanta developer plans to add more gods to the game saying it trivializes "revered deities."
A Hi-Rez says the company has no plans to add figures from other major world religions because "they are not that interesting in character design or gameplay."
"Moreover, portrayal of goddess Kali, who was highly revered by Hindus, appeared like a porno star in the SMITE version shown on the company website, which was quite distressing for the devotees," according the statement released by Zed.
The Universal Society of Hinduism president says, "game makers should be more sensitive while handling faith related subjects and no faith, larger or smaller, should be plundered. As these games left lasting impact on the minds of highly impressionable children, teens and other young people; it would create more misunderstandings about Hinduism, which was already a highly misunderstood religion in the West."
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