It's slightly ill-timed given the next Chinese year of the dog isn't until 2018. Technically this is the year of the snake but snakes offer less in the way of combat potential for games like Call of Duty (unless Activision managed to set up a partnership with Warner Bros and secure the rights to Harry Potter combat snake, Nagini) and fewer interchangeable collar opportunities for Grand Theft Auto.
Japanese magazine Famitsu gave details on the canine companion, revealing his name (Chop) as well as the fact players will be able to accessorise him with different collars and so on. More worryingly, there is also the potential for the dog to be lost.
Broaching the subject of why dogs are being included in games in such a high profile way at the moment, editor of PC Gamer, Graham Smith has several suggestions. "Dogs are easier AI companions to simulate, because they don't need to talk and react verbally to everything the player does lest they break immersion. And also they fit perfectly into the increasingly focus-grouped nature of big budget games, because who doesn't love dogs?"
The immediate appeal of a well animated on-screen dog is one of the things filling Wired.co.uk with trepidation regarding these creatures' ultimate fate. Sure it helps with creating an emotional attachment to the gameworld but, cynically, it occurs to us that that bond can be used for two things.
One is encouraging the user to spend money on accessories (we should note that the GTAV information doesn't mention microtransactions) and the other is to lend emotional weight to a storyline via something dreadful happening to said dog. That's why we are convinced that there is no way a loyal, useful dog like Call of Duty: Ghosts' Riley is getting out of that game alive. The GTAV note that states Chop could be lost is similarly troubling
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