343 Industries Apologises For Offensive Halo Infinite Cosmetic Name
This coming Sunday is Juneteenth, a US federal holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. To celebrate the holiday, 343 industries released several Halo Infinite cosmetics, including a nameplate and color palette. Unfortunately, 343 made a "hurtful" mistake by initially naming that color palette after an ape.
The issue was noted by several Halo fans, including YouTuber Sean W. As shown in the video below, the nameplate’s name was "Juneteenth," but the color palette’s name was "Bonobo," a species of great ape.
Related: Halo Infinite's Future Feels Uncertain And That Breaks My Heart
Public outcry was swift, with 343 founder and studio head Bonnie Ross issuing an apology on social media.
"We were made aware of a palette option for our Juneteenth emblem that contained a term that was offensive and hurtful. The team immediately addressed this issue via an update," wrote Ross. "We are a studio and franchise that is committed to inclusivity where everyone is welcome and supported to be their true self. On behalf of 343, I apologize for making a celebrated moment a hurtful moment."
Senior community manager John Junyszek explained in now removed tweets (via IGN) that "the original name refers to an internal toolset" and was incorrectly applied to the nameplate. Those tweets were later corroborated by YouTuber Mint Blitz, who posted images of the programming software used to edit Halo Infinite tags. That software (Bonobo) came from Bungie back when it was still making Halo games as an evolution of its initial software toolkit, Guerilla, which is still used for modding The Master Chief Collection.
The color palette has since been renamed "Freedom," but fans are still asking for an explanation as to how
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