Ubisoft Responds to PETA Backlash Over Assassin's Creed 4

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (better known as PETA) absolutely does not condone any sort of violence towards animals. Apparently, they won't even make an exception for animals featured in video games.

Recently, Ubisoft showed off the announcement trailer for Assassin's Creed IV: Blackflag, which would feature assassin's living a pirate's life. The game features hunting whales, which is something that PETA finds disgusting.

"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," said a PETA spokesperson, "but this bloody industry still goes on today in the face of international condemnation, and it’s disgraceful for any game to glorify it. PETA encourages video game companies to create games that celebrate animals—not games that promote hurting and killing them."

Venturebeat contacted Ubisoft for a statement, and they responded hilariously in kind: "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. 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."

Video games have been blamed in the not-so-recent past for spurring violence in youth. Should American's next fear be for increased whaling in youth?

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Catherine Cai is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, VG 24/7, RipTen, and The Game Fanatics. She has also worked as a lead producer for video game projects, a manager and lighting director for the stage, and a software engineer. Currently, she works as a Production Engineering Manager for Shopify.

52 Comments Comment from the forums

blackscreen

Anyone else wishing Ubisoft's response was "PeTA can go eat a bag of rocks"?
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sliem

Stupid PETA, this is a game. If your kinds are allowed to win, there would only be one game: Hello Kitty Island Adventure.
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gggplaya

PETA needs to get over it. People need to eat, this is the cycle of life. It's no different than trapping where the animal may struggle to get out of a leg trap and be in pain for many hours before it's killed.
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Vorador2

PETA has way too much free time in their hands.
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makaveli316

Hahaha great response from Ubisoft :D
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anxiousinfusion

I want to see somebody make "Cannibal Holocaust: The Game" just to spite peta.
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vertigo_2000

We should stop harpooning whales and start harpooning PETA spokespeople.

Which scenario is more likely?:
A. Your average run-of-the-mill Teenage Timmy, after playing through the latest Assassin's Creed video game, pries his butt off his parents sofa, away from the TV and video game system, and decides that what he just did in the video game must be worth doing in real life. Goes to the local marina and hijacks a seaworthy vessel (checking before hand to ensure that the vessel has all the necessary harpooing equipment already on board). Googles how to operate a fishing boat and sails away from the convenience stores, shopping malls, teenage girls and whatever other things teenagers are into, out into the open sea. There, he displays a patience unheard of in modern adolescents, and waits for a whale to reveal himself. Now, a master of boating, he is able to both stear the vessel in order to chase the whale as well as fire the harpoon gun in order to kill the whale.

or

B. Timmy goes to the kitchen to heat a pizza pop while the next game loads on his gaming console.
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leafman420

Oh my gosh, Ubisoft is trying to kill??? Data?? You evil???? Ah um, I think I like booty more. :) ftw ubisoft.
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blubbey

Hey PETA! http://i.imgur.com/7FCAz.jpg Just kidding http://i.imgur.com/Mh88u.gif
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chuckchurch

Nuke the Whales!
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