Hindu leader requests removal of deities from Smite, Hi-Rez declines

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Smite, the upcoming MOBA from the makers of Tribes: Ascend that lets you, well, smite your enemies as playable gods from numerous pantheons has struck an unpleasant chord with some real-world worshipers of the gods depicted in the game. Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged Hi-Rez to remove the Hindu gods Agni, Kali, and Vamana, because he felt that their depiction in the game was disrespectful to their followers.

In reply, Hi-Rez issued a statement explaining why they will not be removing the characters from the game. "SMITE includes deities inspired from a diverse and ever expanding set of pantheons including Greek, Chinese, Egyptian, and Norse," Todd Harris, Hi-Rez's COO said. "Hinduism, being one of the world's oldest, largest and most diverse traditions, also provides inspiration toward deities in our game. In fact, given Hinduism's concept of a single truth with multiple physical manifestations one could validly interpret ALL the gods within SMITE to be Hindu. And all gods outside of SMITE as well. Ponder that for a minute. Anyway, going forward SMITE will include even more deities, not fewer."

Zed has not yet issued a public reaction to this news.

Len Hafer
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Len Hafer is a freelancer and lifelong PC gamer with a specialty in strategy, RPGs, horror, and survival games. A chance encounter with Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness changed her life forever. Today, her favorites include the grand strategy games from Paradox Interactive like Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis, and thought-provoking, story-rich RPGs like Persona 5 and Disco Elysium. She also loves history, hiking in the mountains of Colorado, and heavy metal music.