Hindu statesman Rajan Zed has released a statement urging Naughty Dog to treat Hindu deities, temples and traditions with respect in its upcoming expansion, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. With the game being set in India, there are reports of concepts borrowed from Hinduism playing a key role in the narrative, leading to fears of “trivialization.”
Zed, the President of Universal Society of Hinduism, wrote in a press release that while the Hindu community welcomes the entertainment industry to explore the religion and its concepts, it wants developers to take them seriously and respect them.
“Refashioning of Hinduism scriptures, symbols, traditions, concepts and deities for mercantile greed was likely to hurt the sentiments of devotees; and misrepresentation created confusion among non-Hindus about Hinduism,” reads the statement. “Insensitive handling of faith traditions sometimes resulted in pillaging serious spiritual doctrines and revered symbols.”
Zed stressed that Hindus favor free speech, however, he maintained that misrepresentation of faith can hurt devotees.
Expressing his confidence in “seasoned and skillful professionals” at Naughty Dog, Zed said that if Sony or its subsidiaries need expertise on Hinduism, the third largest religion in the world with 1.1 billion followers, he along with other Hindu scholars would provide the company with necessary resources.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy releases for PlayStation 4 on August 22.
