EA apologizes for Dante’s Inferno: Sin to Win event

If you’re working on a game that highlights the nine circles of hell, you may very well expect debauchery to ensue, at least as far as the storyline or gameplay will go. But having said that, it does not necessarily follow that you’ll have a free pass here on Earth when marketing such said game. Electronic Arts should have probably known that from the onset, but I guess they were busy getting all excited about sinning to win. Their newest marketing ploy for Dante’s Inferno (PS3, PSP, Xbox 360) launched at the Comic-Con was quite a controversial one, requiring them to make an apology to the offended public.

If you’re working on a game that highlights the nine circles of hell, you may very well expect debauchery to ensue, at least as far as the storyline or gameplay will go. But having said that, it does not necessarily follow that you’ll have a free pass here on Earth when marketing such said game. Electronic Arts should have probably known that from the onset, but I guess they were busy getting all excited about sinning to win.

Here’s their newest marketing ploy for Dante’s Inferno (PS3, PSP, Xbox 360) that they launched at the Comic-Con:

Understandably so, and rather expectedly, people didn’t take too kindly to their choice of wordings. Although we all know gamers would love to hang out with booth babes, there’s just something strikingly wrong about  encouraging people to “Sin to Win” those “booty” at the event.

Fortunately, EA has been awakened, bathed in the divine light of understanding, and has come out to explain via tweet what they were thinking when they launched the event — if they were at all.

We understand there’s a lot of debate right now around our “Sin to Win” promotion at Comic-Con and wanted to clarify a few things. We created this promotion as part of our marketing efforts around the circle of Lust. Each month we will be focusing on a new Circle of Hell. This month is Lust.

We apologize for any confusion and offense that resulted from our choice of wording, and want to assure you that we take your concerns and sentiments seriously. We’ll continue to follow your comments and please let us know if you have any other thoughts or concerns. Keep watching as the event unfolds and we hope you’ll agree with us that it was all done in the spirit of the good natured fun of Comic-Con.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why we have anti-gaming advocates like Jack Thompson. You cannot be careless about how you market your product, even if it’s “just a game.” Somewhere out there, a sicko will come see this and take it literally.

Come to think of it, EA has been making some major boo-boos with their campaigns as of late. The brass knuckles for The Godfather II swag bag was also their brainchild, wasn’t it? Looks like somebody needs to take a long hard look at their marketing team.

• Visceral execs leaving EA for Activision
• EA and DC working together for a Dante’s Inferno comic
  
• EA recalls Godfather II brass knuckles

Via EA Twitpic