Square apologizes for "offensive" Hitman: Absolution promo app

Square Enix has apologized over a Hitman: Absolution promotion in which people could put hits out on their Facebook friends for a myriad of reasons ranging from having less than ample female/male attributes to being a ginger.

The Facebook application would put a video tailored to the specific reason for the hit on the target's wall, which would also mash up photos pulled from the user's Facebook page, creating a video of Agent 47 offing the chosen target.

While seemingly a fun thing to do to your pals, the bit Square issued a formal apology for was the offensive material contained therein, such as offing your pal due to having "small t*ts/a small penis," or "cheating" on their partner.

The promotion has been pulled, with Square issuing the following statement:

"Earlier today we launched an app based around Hitman: Absolution that allowed you to place virtual hits on your Facebook friends. Those hits would only be viewable by the recipient, and could only be sent to people who were confirmed friends.

"We were wide of the mark with the app, and following feedback from the community we decided the best thing to do was remove it completely and quickly. This we've now done.

"We're sorry for any offense caused by this."

This isn't the first time the Hitman game has courted controversy, as the firm released a video featuring dominatrix-nun-assassins, which in turn drew a lot of ire from the Internet and caused quite a bit of arguing from both sides of the "debate" camp.

Hitman: Absolution was released worldwide on November 20.