The Eidos Campaign

In the Fall 0f 2002, Edios Interactive, a leading publisher of video games, released Hitman 2: Silent Assasin. Hitman 2 game makers include game characters that represent the Sikhs and the Dalits (an oppressed people in India). Hitman 2 created racism and hatred against Sikhs by linking them to terrorism. It glorified attacks on Sikhs in a Gurdwara that looks like the Harmander Sahib (also known as the Golden Temple) while Dalits are portrayed as followers of an evil cult leader.

Because of the international nature of the issue (Edios is based in the UK with the US as one of its biggest markets), and the global commercial implication of the issues, it was unlikely than any single Sikh organization would be able to effectively combat the situation beyond simply issueing statements in protest of the game. Recognizing this, The Sikh Coalition, began leveraging its relationships with various Sikh organizations by circulating a petition to them. Simultaneously, these organizations and others from across the world showed a tremendous amount of unified support and came together in a campaign to discuss options available to deal with this crisis

A spokesperson for the Coalition contacted the corporate headquarters of Edios in the UK while a representative for Sikhnet began a dialog with their US office. Based on these dialogs and an online petition with over 2000 signatures on the Sikh Coalition website (eventually over 10000 people would sign this petition), Edios agreed to remove any offensive content from their website, but did not agree to amend the game itself.

By this point, coalition building had led to over 100 Sikh organizations agreeing to work together on the Edios campaign. The collective efforts of these organizations internationally increased the pressure on Edios through media outreach, protests at stores carrying the game, lobbying retailers regarding carrying the game, and increasing the awareness of the issues in their respective spheres of influence. Due to this broad based program, Edios recognized the extent of the outrage over their video game and began negotiating with the Coalition to alter the game in a manner that would be acceptable to all parties. Upon completing this agreement, the company issued the following statement:

Eidos Plc is pleased to confirm that it has reached an amicable position with the Sikh Coalition in relation to the changing of certain images and references depicting Sikhs within the game Hitman 2: Silent Assassin which is on general release.

In recognition of the concerns and sensitivities which have been raised, Eidos and the developers, IO Interactive, have responded in both a socially and commercially responsible manner by:
-removing from the Hitman 2 website all relevant images and content;
-taking steps to amend the game on all existing platforms; and
-adapting the next edition of the game due out for the GameCube platform.

Eidos and IO Interactive would like to stress that no offence was intended but would like to apologise to the Sikh community and other persons for any offence taken.

Eidos recognises the value of upholding the Company's good corporate citizenship status and strives to observe high standards of ethical behaviour in all its business activities. To that end, the lessons learned from the concerns expressed by the Sikh community will help to ensure that the Company continues to observe and respect cultural, religious and ethical sensitivities in its future products.

8 November 2002 (http://www.hitman2.com/Statement.htm)

The Edios issue did not involve the loss of life or liberty or employment. Instead it demonstrated inappropriate treatment of Sikhs within the media and entertainment industries. Though these types of misrepresentations of Sikhs have been common over the last several years, in this case, the results differed dramatically. For the first time ever, scores of Sikh organizations assembled and coordinated almost overnight. The Sikh Coalition hopes to further leverage this work to establish a channel by which community organizations can quickly rally support for substantive issues in times of need.

More details on the Eidos Campaign