Following a torrent of negative backlash regarding its God of War 2 release party, a Sony spokesperson has said that the company was “shocked” by the article, and will be conducting an internal inquiry to ensure it does not happen again.
As reported in the British tabloid Daily Mail, the release party featured a freshly-slaughtered goat, and guests competed to see who could eat the most offal, procured elsewhere and intended to resemble the goat’s intestines, from its stomach. While it was determined soon after that most of the Daily Mail’s article was either over-sensationalized or completely inaccurate, Sony representatives responded to the matter quickly and strongly.
“Whilst we pride ourselves on creating engaging experiences, we are committed to making sure these are appropriate in nature and do not causing offense to either attendees or our consumers in general,” a spokesperson said. “We are conducting an internal inquiry into aspects of the event in order to learn from the occurrence and put into place measures to ensure that this does not happen again.”
Sony has removed photographs of the party which showed the decapitated goat from the latest issue of Official Playstation Magazine, although some copies were sent out to subscribers with the pictures in place before the company could react.
Contrary to early reports, the goat carcass was actually purchased from a local butcher as dressing for the event, and guests were actually served a traditional Greek meat stew, in keeping with the party’s Hellenic theme.
In response to those reports, the Sony spokesperson said, “This is not a true representation of the event, but nevertheless we realize the imagery and the inaccurate description of the event would cause offense and have thus taken action to stop it from circulating.”
“Sony Computer Entertainment Europe takes the sensitivities of the general public and issues of animal welfare very seriously and is sorry for any offense or distress the event or perception of this event may have caused.”
