Peppa Pig: World Adventures developer Pettons Studio has explained why it decided to keep the inclusion of the late Queen Elizabeth II in the game following her death last year.
In Peppa Pig: World Adventures, players are able to travel to a variety of locations around the globe such as Paris, Australia, and London. The London chapter in particular finds Peppa Pig, her family, and friends visiting Buckingham Palace, where they meet the Queen. When the game launched last month, a clip of the scene went viral showing the Queen jumping in puddles with Peppa Pig, followed by a fade to black In Memorium screen acknowledging her death.
“Unfortunately, the Queen passed away during development, and at that moment we had already implemented the character of the Queen and built this whole trip in London,” said lead producer David Moral in an interview with Eurogamer. “When the news came up, there was discussion on how we should address the issue, because obviously there were different options. We could have removed the trip, we could have removed London and the Queen from the game, which would have been an option.”
Moral added that he thinks everyone is glad they kept Queen in the game, saying, “Even though she’s not here, it’s very nice people around the world and the kids are playing [Peppa Pig: World Adventures], and they meet the Queen and learn who she is, because she was such an important figure in the UK and in the world for decades.”
Ester Zanon from publisher Outright Games also shared that, “It was a very quick decision” to keep her in the game, adding that when the news came of her passing, everyone involved in development thought she should stay, because”… ‘she has existed and she’s in the show’… It felt a bit unfair to cut her. She’s history for all of us.”
Moral added that it “didn’t feel right” to remove London from the game, saying it “would mean reducing content and reducing fun from the game. At the end, if the kids love it, that’s all that matters, I suppose.”
Peppa Pig: World Adventure released on March 17 for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Switch, and PC. Another Peppa Pig game was released last year called My Friend Peppa. The game allowed players to customize their own animal avatar and visit locations from the TV show with Peppa such as The Beach, the chilly Snowy Mountains, Peppa’s house, and the Potato City theme park.
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