If you’ve been keeping an eye on gaming news from around the world, you may have read of Rajan Zed now and again. Last we heard from him, he was campaigning against Overwatch’s use of a Devi skin which allegedly trivializes the goddess Kali. He claimed that putting the character in the hands of a gamer amounts to disrespecting the Hindu goddess.
Zed is now urging Tokyo-based Delightworks to withdraw a newly introduced character in its Fate/Grand Order (FGO) game. The much-revered goddess Parvati has been worked into the mobile role playing game as one of the latest ‘servants.’ Perhaps Zed’s indignation on behalf of Hindus everywhere is justified this time around.
In this day and age, folks in the public eye including the gaming industry are naturally expected to be sensitive towards races, cultures, causes and religions they’re unfamiliar with when drawing inspiration from them. Ignorance is not a valid excuse for inappropriate representations of people or beliefs anymore.
While those of us who are tired of politically correct extremes can claim Symmetra’s Devi skin in Overwatch is a non-issue, it’s clear why some Hindus might object to FGO’s depiction of Parvati. The venerated goddess is classed as a ‘servant’ character and dressed in a costume that looks like it came out of The Arabian Nights.
Perhaps some elements of the character got lost in translation and Parvati is meant to be just a normal Indian-origin skin in FGO. But the use of the word ‘goddess’ in the description of her skills set lends a bit of discomfort to the conversation. Delightworks hasn’t responded to Zed’s statement as yet.