SMITE Goes Onward With Hindu Gods
My god's bigger than your god
SMITE's gotten into a bit of a dispute with Rajan Zed, the President of Universal Society of Hinduism, based on his view of how the gods are treated. According to Eurasia Review, "controlling and manipulating goddess Kali and the other Hindu deities with a joystick/button/keyboard/mouse is denigration." His complaints are extremely general after that, talking of being against "refashioning Hinduism concepts and symbols for mercantile greed," and he requests their removal entirely. SMITE's creators Hi-Rez have issued a statement that, in short, tells them they will not.
While you might disagree about the use of other religion's gods in a game, I don't think a COO of a video game company should tell the President of Universal Society of Hinduism a fact about religion followed with, "Ponder that for a minute."