Earlier this year, Square Enix's Hitman: Absolution caught the ire of fans when they showed a group of scantily-clad, assassin nuns known as "The Saints" in a trailer. Not only did it show violence against women, but some also saw it as sacrilegious seeing as it showed sexy nuns out to kill someone.
In an interview with GamesIndustry, Square Enix director of marketing Cord Smith talks about this controversy, and he even admits that he was surprised when the "Attack of the Saints" trailer caused such a stir. Although he does admit that he was too close to the project and its inner workings to see how others outside would see it.
It's hard for any of us being immersed in a world or a creative field or a particular project to pull yourself out of that bubble…But when you do try to see an asset like that with fresh eyes and say, 'What if you knew nothing about this? How you would react?' And it was only at that point I think we looked at it and [understood].
While the trailer helped put Hitman: Absolution in the forefront of gaming websites and whatnot, Smith doesn't necessarily subscribe to the mantra that "any publicity is good publicity."
In general, you'd imagine any controversy provides increased awareness of the game's existence…So if you're just looking from an awareness standpoint, maybe it's helpful in spite of the tone of some of the comments and debates that went on. But I don't think it was something we would want to exploit, that sort of awareness. It's a difficult thing from a public relations side. Do you try to dispel it or provide people with enough context to have a more educated conversation about it? Or do you kind of let it burn out?
Smith adds that he doesn't approve of marketing through manufactured controversy. Adding that within the industry, it's done in a much lighter scale such as leaking an asset and adds that he's not an advocate of this fabricated controversy, adding that "if that wave swells up, how do you ride it?"
Hitman: Absolution is, of course, now out in the U.S. and is getting mostly favorable reviews. However, this review of the game from a stripper (and from Forbes, no less) is not one of them.
Have you played Absolution so far? What do you make of The Saints? Were they made up for marketing purposes or a necessity to make the game more engaging?
