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Gaming Wednesday, March 6th 2013 at 8:30 am

PETA Protests Whaling In Assassin’s Creed IV, Just In Case There Is Whaling In Assassin’s Creed IV

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Well, PETA has invented a ludicrous thing to be outraged over, so it must be Wednesday. This week, it’s Ubisoft’s upcoming Assassin’s Creed IV that has the animal rights group all in a tizzy over portrayals of whaling in the game. Or rather, what might potentially be portrayals of whaling in the game, since the game isn’t out yet, and all we know about the game’s latest maritime installment is that at some point, the protagonist is on a ship and sees a whale. This, according to PETA, makes the game developers whale hating monsters who are worse than 1,000 Stalins, presumably because having any other reaction to it would require the folks at PETA to actually think about a reasoned response for like two minutes.

Keep in mind here that the above screenshot is the one and only thing we know about whales in the pirate-themed Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, We might be able to hunt them, which, yes, is gross. We might be able to just watch them from boats and ponder the diversity and majesty of life. Whales could even be the secret villains of the series, pulling the strings of history from deep in their underwater dens. The jury is just out at this point. That’s not going to stop PETA from issuing a statement condemning the game, though:

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, 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.

If your argument is that whaling is a pretty despicable way to make a living, you won’t get a word of argument out of this reporter. Maybe wait until the game is released and all the facts are in, though, PETA? Flying off the handle when you see a whale in a video game — like losing your collective shit when the President swats a fly — makes it rather difficult to take you at all seriously. After all, if playing an FPS won’t make me shoot someone — and it really, really won’t — then it’s pretty unlikely that playing a whaler — which again, we’re not sure is a part of the game here — will turn me into Captain Ahab overnight.

(via The Escapist)

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  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Eric-Huver/1517438769 Eric Huver

    Assassin’s creed games are almost always historically accurate. While i doubt the main character would hunt whales, ( or even have the equipment for it), if they put it in it’s not because ubisoft hates whales, it’s because they’re being historically accurate.

  • MS

    Slitting roughly 7,386 human throats in the game, though, is just fine with PETA.

  • http://twitter.com/MaryKateClark Marykate Clark

    I don’t take all the ire at face value. I think it’s just to create public discourse and gain publicity. Historical accuracy is good for educating the public. When I see something horrible and cruel, but historically accurate portrayed in a video game, whether a fantasy setting or set in the past, it does not make me suddenly look favorably upon that practice and think it acceptable today.
    I’m disgusted by whaling, but I’ve got no objections to a video game depiction of it. It’s a good reminder of the progress we have made, in the real world, and progress that may still need to be made.

    The mere presence of something like this in a game does not in any way suggest that we should still do it.

  • http://twitter.com/MaryKateClark Marykate Clark

    Humans fall outside the umbrella of their official mission.

  • A “concerned” citizen

    PETA is missing out the biggest animal abuse of all… MAN.
    That’s right. I’m not sure if you’ve heard of this strange creature, but the rights of this magnificent being are being spat upon and violated in nearly every game out there. Maybe they’d better check their facts. The treatment of man in all of these games are totally reprehensible and shocking. I mean, the sheer number of ways these poor beings are killed is beyond measure. Shooting? Check. Evisceration? Check. Decapitation? Check. Spine-ripping? That’s a big DOUBLECHECK.
    Clearly, PETA has its priorities out of line. Why are we worried about whales when man is destroyed a billion times over in our digital entertainment?

  • http://www.facebook.com/michaeldavidbeckman Michael Beckman

    You know what Ubisoft should do? Add whaling to the game, with a message thanking PETA for the idea. Free publicity right there.

    Na, but they should have the player make a choice if it’s there. They can whale if they want, ignore it all together, or actively stop people from doing it. Maybe even use it to their advantage by messing with the in-game economy with it.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/William-Nordan/100000123381590 William Nordan

    What I REALLY wonder about in all this is: IF whaling is made a part of the game, will Air Assassination off the bowsprit will be a viable whale hunting tactic in game or not?

  • Anonymous

    This is a direct assault on freedom of speech.

  • http://twitter.com/mk_patter Megasus

    No, it’s gonna have whaling in it, at least according to their press preview last week they are.

  • Animal

    Hm… so using PETA’s logic, why don’t we ban all the games that have any sort of violence towards humans? Maybe, we should start imprisoning all FPS/RPG gamers, for slaughtering so many innocent virtual people?
    I love animals, but this is simply BS, pardon my language.

    Btw, let’s IMAGINE that AC4 inspired me to go whale hunting so badly that i decided to do it tomorrow. Now since most countries have established a ban on whale hunting, it will be very problematic and illegal for me to do that and would probably amount for a huge chunk of my yearly salary to succeed. Bottom line: Even if you inspire the gamers to eradicate all the whales on our lovely planet, nothing will change.

    P.S.: I have a feeling that the fact that Ubisoft might introduce nudity in AC4 will bring yet another senseless ruckus blaming the company for acts of disrespect or disgrace.

  • http://www.facebook.com/paul.giachetti Paul Giachetti

    Wow, and yet they left Dishonored alone, which was all about a society built around whaling, so much that you could actually use whale-oil canisters as explosives. Go figure.

  • http://twitter.com/MrACRedwine Andrew Redwine

    Fuck off, PETA!

  • Candice Young

    here is saddest scenario…PETA member and clued up on gaming…
    not that I at any stage doubt any of your intelligence but a prime example of what I suspect the level is we dealing with is answered below:
    YES …Humans would fall outside the ” umbrella of their official mission” PETA stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of ANIMALS…
    Next ?

  • GaterCreesley

    If you were to assassinate a whale in AC4, just rest assured that that motherfucker was probably a templar and damn well deserved.

  • Brandon Wirthmann

    I like the way you think michael Beckman.

  • the_silence

    I haven’t heard about PETA In a while, maybe they are just feeling left out and are saying, hey, remember us? We still exist and still have no idea what’s going on!

  • Brandon Wirthmann

    You sir have my respect.

  • Brandon Wirthmann

    My impersination of PETA members.
    Noooooo the whales!!!!!!!!
    Kill the humans instead, save the whales!!!!!!!!!!
    The whales!!!!!!!!!!

  • Brian

    Common sense falls outside the umbrella of their official mission.

  • Sporetox

    So, a game that’s basically about hunting down and murdering people is being protested on the slim chance there might be whaling (Which I believe was legal during the time period the game takes place). Great job PETA.

  • http://www.facebook.com/jimmy.voltron.7 Jimmy Voltron

    Every time I consider vegetarianism, I remember PETA and resolve to eat more meat and maybe buy a fur coat some day.

  • A “concerned” citizen

    Just trying to raise awareness, since the MOST EFFECTIVE PROTEST GROUP EVER doesn’t seem to care about this mistreated, downtrodden species.

  • Anonymous

    Let us not forget that they openly protest meat, which is used to feed poor people worldwide.

  • The Rantman

    Peta stop being relevant since the mid-nineties, they have to invent controversy because no one in their right minds would take them serious. They’re concerned over 3D whales, yet there’s proof that years ago (don’t know if it’s still happening anymore) they’d euthanize domestic animals and keep them in large walk in freezers.

  • disgustipated

    Wow, drama queen. Have you put any thought into the idea that people are expecting PETA to make a statement on this? Bottom line is that PETA is correct, nobody should be glorifying whaling. Its a sick industry.

  • disgustipated

    I suppose it is news to you that PETA isnt a human rights organization?

  • disgustipated

    Lets all cry and hold hands together wondering why PETA doesnt care about us.

  • disgustipated

    Its wrong and distasteful. Bottom line is that whaling shouldnt be put in a game or in a movie or anywhere else. It should be shunned and not spoken about unless the discussion is on how to end it.

  • disgustipated

    Way to get even with PETA, Jimmy. I’m sure that makes Ingrid Newkirk cry herself to sleep

  • disgustipated

    LOL! EVERYONE keeps euthanized animals in walk in freezers, smart guy. They have to be kept frozen until disposed of. Wth man, thats really ignorant

  • disgustipated

    FYI, the signs they are holding up (if you ever read any of them) allude to the fact that the grain used to keep factory farmed animals alive could feed the world 7 times over. Try not to forget that, plz.

  • Anonymous

    First of all, that’s just a sign, second of all, I am not talking about factory farms. That’s all well and good that it could feed all those people, but that’s not a possibility unless everyone else stops eating meat, which means those people won’t have food to eat. Could it really feed the world seven times over? I don’t think I’ve ever heard that statistic from anyone but PETA.

  • Tara

    Right, because having a creature grow up in its natural environment and then killed for food and other things is so much horribly worse than keeping hundreds of an animal in small confinement, under high levels of stress, their entire lives.

    Now, I’m not saying I think whaling is good, but I am saying that if you want to say, “whaling is a pretty despicable way to make a living”, then I wonder if you think being a poultry farmer or beef cow rancher is also “despicable”, because, from a quality of life, over the course of the animals life, the whale who was hunted had it much better than any of the animals on those farms.

  • Kris

    Neither is Umbrella for that matter.

  • Nobody

    Now, now. They also thought Mario kills tanukis and puts on their skin (because those are totally man-sized), so why is anyone even pretending to be surprised?

  • Evernal Sue

    This means PETA will do a parody of assassin creed, brilliant!!

  • IceBreaker

    PETA simply attracts misanthropes.
    Pretending to protect animals is only the excuse to express their hatred for other humans..

    Do not get me wrong, I consider (real life!) whaling a barbaric practice.
    However, attacking a virtual product for depicting something very few people could actually do is a cheap publicity stunt.

    Gamers do not kill whales. Whalers kill whales.
    And PETA does not care to tell the difference. They hate us all equally.

  • http://www.facebook.com/brandon.w.carter Brandon W Carter

    that’s the most asinine, deplorable and backwards approach to fixing anything, I’ve heard in a LONG time. You’re really not getting how discourse works. if you want change IT MUST be discussed from ALL perspectives. If you’re against whaling then you should be against all hunting. The issue at this time is OVER whaling. Whales are no more sacred a creature than a Lion, Tiger, Wolf, Buffalo, Elephant, Rhino, really any animal actively hunted. So why the hell does it make it any more or less ok to hunt THOSE animals in games. Peta didn’t raise a fuss over the animal slaughter in GUN, Red Dead Redemption, the ENTIRE Far Cry series, World of Warcraft, Assassin’s Creed III, The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and Skyrim(they featured the most IRL-esque animals to hunt), and the MYRIAD of other open world games both online and off, including straight up hunting games. But nope, it’s the depction of a whale within a few feet of a large vessel that’s in the open sea…which happens every day. By this logic any ship passing near a pod of whales is a whaler until proven innocent. This is seriously fucking backwards and so are you for supporting it. I truly hope you’re trolling, lest your kind breed.

  • http://www.facebook.com/brandon.w.carter Brandon W Carter

    like I said above, by their logic any ship passing within a few feet of a pod is whaling. They didn’t get mad about ANY other animal slaughter in the myriad of games that have featured large game hunting for both self defense and sport. this is the most absurd thing i’ve read in weeks.

  • disgustipated

    lol you are a cashier.

  • http://www.facebook.com/amedeus8 Nick Gotshall

    That’s the problem with video games. You shoot a whale in the face in a
    game that takes place a couple centuries ago, and next thing you know
    all the kids run out and shoot whales in the face and then jerk each
    other off over the slowly dying beached face-shot whale’s wounds while listening to Ted Nugent.

    Murdering whale-shaped pixels: Not even once.

  • A “concerned” citizen.

    I’ll share a secret with you… I am one of these men. I don’t know how to read.