Skip to main content

Did Telltale use a real photo of an assassinated diplomat in Batman Season 2?

Death is a theme often dramatized in entertainment vehicles, but the understanding that it is fake makes it much easier to stomach. In the most recent episode of Telltale Studio’s Batman: The Enemy Within, also known as Batman – The Telltale Series: Season 2, however, the game allegedly shows an image of the real body of an assassinated Russian ambassador.

Warning: The photos below contain graphic content. Viewer discretion is advised.

Recommended Videos

During the second episode, The Pact, an in-game image is meant to show security footage from a recent break-in at the fictional Gotham Brokerage. Within the scene are a couple of bodies, but unlike the background, they appear to be pulled from stock photos.

The episode was only released a few days ago, but eagle-eyed player BroTeamPill (via Eurogamer) recognized the image of the body. The image appears to be a pulled from a photo of Andrei Karlov, a Russian ambassador to Turkey, after he was shot and killed in December 2016. Karlov was hit at point-blank range during the opening of an art exhibit in Ankara.

The killer was a Turkish police officer who deliberately planned the assassination in a camera-filled public setting to ensure it was recorded. Karlov’s death was reported all around the world. The photographer who took the images went on to win the top prize at the 2017 World Press Photo contest.

Although the photo is stretched on Bruce Wayne’s in-game display, the similarities are evident. It appears that an artist at Telltale may have found the image online and Photoshopped it into the game before checking its source.

Without making any accusations about Telltale’s use of the photo, this isn’t the first time in-game imagery has caused an issue. In a much less graphic mistake by Naughty Dog, an early Uncharted 4 trailer featured uncredited concept art from Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. After acknowledging its error, Naughty Dog took the trailer down and re-uploaded it with a new image. Even when one artist makes a mistake, it can easily be overlooked during playtesting.

We have reached out to Telltale Studios for confirmation or a statement about the image, but have yet to hear back. The article will be updated accordingly with the studio’s response.

Garrett Hulfish
Garrett is the kind of guy who tells you about all the tech you haven't heard of yet. He also knows too much about other…
Steam delists hundreds of adult games
Steam Games

Why it matters: Vague policies on platforms like Steam risk chilling developer creativity, especially for indie creators tackling edgy themes, while raising broader concerns about content freedom in gaming amid global regulations.

The news: Valve quietly updated its Steamworks guidelines to ban content violating payment processors' rules, targeting "certain kinds" of adult-only material that's not properly labeled or age-gated.

Read more
Loved Expedition 33’s combat? You should try this indie rock RPG
An evil corporate throne room in Fretless.

It's been over a month since I finished everything there was to do in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and yet I still found myself craving more. I had my qualms with what direction the story took in the final act, but the combat had me hooked and never let go. The satisfaction of mastering parry timing and crafting the perfect build with the Pictos and Luminas was more than enough motivation to finish the story and take down every optional challenge the world had to throw at me.

While I could go back and mess with the difficulty modifiers for a new challenge, I instead found a hidden gem of an RPG that scratches that same itch for tactical but reactive combat, but with a few unique twists that have more than filled that void.

Read more
How long is Donkey Kong Bananza?
Donkey Kong and Pauline blast the enviornment in Donkey Kong Bananza.,

We only had to wait one month after the Nintendo Switch 2 launch to get our first shiny new 3D platformer. However, it isn't a new Mario game like you might've assumed, but DK taking center stage. Donkey Kong Bananza is all about smashing and digging your way with Pauline to the planet's core while facing off against a cast of villains. Being able to terraform the levels completely changes the pace of a normal platformer, but does it mean you can bypass everything and finish the game in a few hours? What if you are the type of person who wants to get every collectible there is? In either case, you might be surprised at how Donkey Kong Bananza actually is. After playing the game from start to finish, here's how long you can expect to spend playing Donkey Kong Bananza.

How long to beat Donkey Kong Bananza?

Read more