Last week, police investigated star forward for the Chicago Blackhawks Patrick Kane in his hometown of Hamburg, New York over allegations of rape. The latest details which have been reported say the woman in her 20s behind the accusation had bite marks on her shoulders and a scratch on her leg.
EA Sports has responded today on Twitter to the ongoing investigation by removing Kane from the cover of the upcoming NHL 16 and from any future promotions for the game.
Some have accused EA for the decision as it seems like a situation of Kane being assumed guilty before being proven innocent, especially has no formal charges have been brought against him (at the time of this writing). However, the world of PR isn't a courtroom, and his removal from the cover is quite understandable, though the damage would already be done if he is indeed innocent.
NHL 16 is slated for release on September 15, so Electronic Arts likely didn't have much time to make a decision before the game needed to be put into production.
As such, EA has already taken out Patrick Kane from the cover on Facebook and the official pre-order page has placed Jonathan Toews as the sole player hoisting the Stanley Cup.