Several weeks ago, Gauselmann Group was called upon by religious leader Rajan Zed to pull a slots game called Shiva. It was only within the past few days that the games developed issued an apology and took the game offline.
Backstory and Backup
The controversy started at the beginning of December, when Hindu Leader Rajan Zed called on Gauselmann about their game, Shiva. Zed stated that the game is offensive and disrespectful to the Hindu culture because it uses a god to promote gambling.
About a week later, the games developer still had no responded and several other religious leaders came forward to show their support.
Reverend Richard L. Smith of the United Church of Christ, Buddhist leader Jikai’ Phil Bryan and Jewish Rabbi Elizabeth W. Beyer also demanded that the game be pulled.
Reverend Smith said: “I support the protests of Hindus who are offended by the name and image of the god Shiva being used to promote gaming machines. As I recall, it was the Roman soldiers who cast lots for Jesus’ clothing, so I would be likewise offended if his name were to be attached to such a product”.
The Apology
As of two days ago, the Shiva online slots game is no longer available.
To accompany the decision, Gauselmann issued a statement: “We will immediately remove this game from our games portfolio and no longer offer it. At no point in time did we have the intention to insult the religious or ideological feelings of Hindus. We truly regret the confusion this has caused and you may rest assured that we will be even more diligent concerning the design and the designation of our games in the future.”
Déjà vu?
This is the second time this has happened, and with almost the same the issues at stake. The guilty games developer was PlayTech and the offended religion was Hinduism.
The company’s title Lakshmi’s Gold was not well received by Rajan Zed, who demanded that the game be pulled. PlayTech was a bit more prompt than Gauselman, pulling the game within a week of receiving the complaint.
A Lesson To Be Learned
We know that slots developers like to get creative with their themes – but there are some issues that should not be touched. Religion is certainly one of them.
Slots developers and designers should certainly stay away from religious themes. Cultural themes still seem to be fair game – for example, titles based on Ancient Egypt, Japanese Geishas or African Safaris.
