Halo Infinite sparks controversy with Emancipation Day skin for African-American slaves

Game News Halo Infinite sparks controversy with Emancipation Day skin for African-American slaves

343 Industries has just changed the name of a cosmetic from Halo Infinite which had offended many fans.

“I apologize for making a moment of celebration hurtful”

For celebrate Juneteenth, also called Emancipation Daythe day of celebration of the emancipation of African-American slaves in the United States, Halo Infinite came up with a new emblem. Among the color palettes to choose from for this emblem, the name of a palette shocked lots of players. A pallet with pan-African colors was so named “Bonobo”, the name of a species of great ape in danger of extinction. No need to explain how much this kind of name can offendmore so to celebrate the emancipation of black slaves.

The reactions from players, content creatorsetc., were lively and numerous:

Quickly, executives from 343 Industries reacted and communicated. Indeed, this color palette has been renamed “Freedom”. Especially the Halo Franchise Chief Community Manager, John Junyszekand the director and founder of 343 Industriesgave some explanations on Twitter:

John Junyszek: Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Sean. We strive to create diverse and inclusive gaming communities. Although the original name referred to an internal toolset, it was not intended to be applied to this content and we acknowledge the harm it may have caused. The palette was incorrectly named, and we immediately renamed it via an update.

Bonnie Ross: We were made aware of a palette option for our Juneteenth emblem that contained an offensive and hurtful term. The team immediately addressed this issue via an update. We are a studio and franchise committed to inclusivity, where everyone is welcome and invited to be themselves. On behalf of 343, I apologize for making a moment of celebration hurtful.

Bonobo would be an internal asset editing program

In his article devoted to this controversy, Kotaku quote a anonymous source familiar with Halo development, which has somewhat more specific explanations. Indeed, this source confirms that Bonobo is an asset editing program at 343. Bonobo was very commonly used on Halo 5but the studio does not would use it more for Halo Infinite development. Only it still exists, and it is very popular within the development team and is known to many employees, although it no longer appears to be in use. It is therefore possible that a developer has filled a placeholder text for this palette with the name Bonobo and that the quality control team did not see it, or even that it been put there automatically. Unfortunately, it is also possible that it is a deliberate act by an employee of the development teamwhich has not been spotted before.

It’s pretty vague then, and we’ll probably never know what really happened. The truth is that naming a palette after a monkey might not have bothered anyone …if it was for any other emblem! But there, for celebrating Emancipation Day is obviously offensiveand it is normal that the players reacted.

Note, moreover, that only individuals like John Junyszek, Bonnie Ross or Joe Staten, the game’s creative director, communicated on Twitter. Official Halo communication channels have not no statement. The Halo Twitter account simply retweeted Bonnie Ross’ message.

The Juneteenth emblem palette in Halo Infinite, dedicated to the Emancipation of African-American slaves, is now called Freedom.