Telltale's Batman uses photo of assassinated Russian ambassador

UPDATE 8TH OCTOBER: Telltale Games will remove the image from the game.

"An update to the game has been submitted this morning that will be removing the image across all platforms," Telltale told Gamasutra, though it's not clear whether "this morning" refers to Friday (6th) morning, when the story was originally published, Saturday morning or Sunday morning. There are no apparent updates to the game on Steam yet.

The statement continued: "We regret this incident occurred, and we are taking appropriate action internally to ensure that we continue to maintain our high standards in production and quality assurance."

ORIGINAL STORY 6TH OCTOBER: Telltale Games' latest Batman episode includes a real-life photo showing the assassination of a Russian diplomat.

Warning: this article contains graphic images.

Andrei Karlov, Russian ambassador to Turkey, was shot dead in December 2016. He was fired upon at point blank range while opening an art exhibition in Ankara.

Karlov's killer, a Turkish police offer, deliberately committed the act in a public setting, surrounded by cameras, to ensure the event was recorded. He was shot dead by security forces.

The event was widely reported around the world.

Batman: The Enemy Within's second episode, The Pact, launched this week and mistakenly - we presume - includes an image of the assassination. It's part of a picture meant to show security camera footage from a break-in at Gotham Brokerage.

The image shows a dead body lying on the floor - and as one player realised, it is an image of Karlov's body. It appears as if an artist at Telltale found the image online and Photoshopped it into the game artwork without checking its source.

A screenshot of the image and the photo it borrows from lie below.

We've contacted Telltale and asked if the photo will be removed.