Earlier this month, an online pokie provider named Gauselmann Group came under fire for its Shiva game. Hindu Leader Rajan Zed called on the company to remove the online pokie and issue an apology for portraying a religious figure in the promotion of a casino game. After weeks of waiting, Zed’s request has been granted; the game has been pulled at the designer has apologised.
The story first broke during the first week of December. It has now been 20 days since Rajan Zed raised the issue with Gauselmann Group, which seems like quite a long time for the company to reply. However, it is a very sensitive issue, and it is likely that the games developer needed the time to formulate an appropriate response.
Ten days after Rajan Zed called on Gauselmann Group, he received a great deal of support from other religious leaders. Reverend Richard L. Smith of the United Church of Christ, Buddhist leader Jikai’ Phil Bryan and Jewish Rabbi Elizabeth W. Beyer have came forward to support Zed and demand that the game is pulled. Now, Gauselmann Group has finally responded.
The company has pulled the game and issued a public apology. A statement from Gauselmann Group reads: “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.” Religion and gambling are two topics that do not necessarily go well together. So, there is always a bit of controversy when a pokie games develop attempts to include a religious figure in one of their titles.
It certainly a combination that should be avoided, and Gauselmann has made the right decision by pulling the game.
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