Wizards of the Coast apologizes for and removes racist elements of Spelljammer

pcgamer.com:

In August, Wizards of the Coast published Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, an updated version of a Dungeons & Dragons setting released in the 1980s that blends science fiction with fantasy. This week, its description of flying monkey-people called hadozee was criticized online(opens in new tab) for resembling various racist stereotypes. Portrayals of Black people as monkeys or apes have a long history(opens in new tab) and are the source of things like the monkey chanting(opens in new tab) regularly directed at Black players during football and cricket matches around the world, so similarities between the hadozee and aspects of real-world bigotry were bound to be closely scrutinized.

Wizards of the Coast, which previously announced its intent to move D&D away from racial stereotypes by doing away with biological essentialism, removing text that echoes real-world stereotypes, and working with sensitivity readers, has now apologized(opens in new tab). The full text of its statement is below: 

We wanted to acknowledge and own the inclusion of offensive material within our recent Spelljammer: Adventures in Space content. We failed you, our players and our fans, and we are truly sorry.

The campaign includes a people called Hadozee which first appeared in 1982. Regrettably, not all portions of the content relating to the Hadozee were properly vetted before appearing in our most recent release. As we continue to learn and grow through every situation, we recognize that to live our values, we have to do better.

Throughout the 50-year history of Dungeons & Dragons, some of the characters in the game have been monstrous and evil, using descriptions that are painfully reminiscent of how real-world groups have been and continue to