This year’s iteration of Farming Simulator will not only introduce female avatars, but will also include pig farming. The latter has somewhat upset the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Foundation, and it has in turn issued a letter to the game’s developers—Giants Software—urging them to add abattoirs to Farming Simulator 17.

“Farming Simulator 17 should either show the nightmarish reality endured by pigs at the abattoir or change into Vegan Farming Simulator 17 and let players grow crops—to do anything else would be dishonest”, says PETA's European outreach liaison Harriet Barclay in a statement. “PETA urges anyone who considers pig-slaughter footage too gruesome to include in a simulator game to rid their real-life plates of animal corpses and switch to cruelty-free vegan foods.”

Barclay also penned the letter which goes into rather graphic detail with regards to the process of preparing and slaughtering of pigs. Here's a less gruesome summary:

“Following the announcement that Farming Simulator 17 will depict pig farming, we are writing to encourage you to include video footage from abattoirs in the game. To simulate the farming industry accurately, Farming 17 would need to show all aspects of pig farming, including what happens to pigs when they're sent to slaughter.

“We ask that you include footage of this in your game to show players the horrific reality of the pig-farming industry.”

The letter in full can be read here, and we’ve reached out to Giants for comment. Farming Simulator 17, with or without graphic animal slaughter, is due October 26.

Thanks, GameWatcher.