‘Halo’ developer apologizes for ‘offensive and hurtful’ Juneteenth game feature
The game developer behind the hit franchise “Halo” apologized for a recent Juneteenth-themed update that included an offensive name.
343 Industries released the themed content on June 14, several days before the holiday, Windows Central reported. The new nameplate included a design with stripes of black, red and green on it, with golden yellow birds flying over the stripes.
The color scheme seems to be a reference to the Pan-African flag, but the nameplate itself was released under the name “Bonobo,” a species of great ape, For The Win reported.
Players and fans were quick to criticize the company over the name.
A ”Halo” news account, HaloHub, said in a Tweet that the name “needs to be removed and an apology needs to be issued immediately.”
Bradley Laws, a professional ”Halo” player for the company OpTic Gaming, said “disappointed isn’t even the word to use here.”
Laws, who is Black, said in a Tweet that “to have blatant racism on an important holiday is just spitting in black peoples faces.”
Bonnie Ross, the founder and head of 343 Industries, addressed the matter in a Tweet shortly after midnight on June 15, saying the company was “made aware of a palette option for our Juneteenth emblem that contained a term that was offensive and hurtful.”
“We are a studio and franchise that is committed to inclusivity where everyone is welcome and supported to be their true self,” Ross wrote. “On behalf of 343, I apologize for making a celebrated moment a hurtful moment.”
In another Tweet, John Junyszek, a senior community manager at 343 Industries, said the feature’s original name “was not intended to be applied to this content” and that staff at the company “recognize the harm it may have caused.”
Within the “Halo” games, nameplates are “small icons seen in pre and post-game lobbies showing player’s Gamertags that can be customized depending on certain requirements,” according to Halopedia.
In “Halo Infinite,” a player’s nameplate “also determines the player emblem that appears on the scoreboard during multiplayer games,” Halopedia says.
Juneteenth is a holiday intended to celebrate the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. The occasion has also become a broader celebration of Black culture in the U.S. The first Juneteenth celebration was on June 19, 1866, McClatchy News reported.
A push to declare the day a federal holiday surged after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020 and amid calls for police reform and an end to racism against Black Americans, McClatchy News reported. Juneteenth became an official federal holiday in 2021.
Other companies have previously come under fire for marketing efforts related to the holiday. Walmart recently apologized for releasing an ice cream flavor that was criticized as “tone deaf,” “racially insensitive” and an example of “corporate pandering” ahead of the holiday, McClatchy News reported.
And a children’s museum in Indiana recently apologized for planning to offer a “Juneteenth watermelon salad” at an event celebrating the holiday, McClatchy News reported.
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