Bonobo

2022 - 6 - 15

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Image courtesy of "Inverse"

'Halo Infinite's Juneteenth "Bonobo" skin is a shocking failure by ... (Inverse)

'Halo Infinite' developers 343 recently added a new Juneteenth emblem to the game, but the offensive name attached to the cosmetic left many players ...

343 Industries hasn’t offered any official explanation for the term’s appearance in the game, outside of community manager John Junyszek saying on Twitter, “We strive to create diverse and inclusive gaming communities. “We were made aware of a palette option for our Juneteenth emblem that contained a term that was offensive and hurtful. The real problem is with the pallete’s name — “Bonobo.” A Bonobo is a type of great ape, and considering the long, disgraceful history of ape metaphors being used as dehumanizing slurs against Black people, it’s difficult to interpret the use of this term as anything other than racist.

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Image courtesy of "Kotaku"

Halo Infinite's Juneteenth Cosmetic Briefly Named After Ape, Sparks ... (Kotaku)

'Bonobo' is a development tool at 343, sources say, but it's unclear how this passed quality checks.

At worst, someone, or many someones, cracked a racist joke somewhere in the development process and the studio’s quality checks did not catch it before the update went live. It’s possible that someone on staff punched in the name of the program as placeholder text, and the studio’s normal processes for quality-checks on this stuff didn’t catch it. Though it was commonly used during the development of Halo 5, the studio moved away from its use during the development of Halo Infinite. But it exists. It’s unclear whether or not the Bonobo program’s name would get pulled automatically in the text field for the name of a color palette. On Twitter, Halo senior community manager John Junyszek said the palette was “incorrectly named” and attributed the error to an “internal toolset,” but didn’t specify any further details. At 4:45 p.m. ET, the Halo content creator Sean W posted a video on YouTube explaining the situation.

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Image courtesy of "TMZ"

'Halo Infinite' Changes Offensive Juneteenth Badge After Backlash ... (TMZ)

'Halo Infinite' comes under fire after the video game features a Juneteenth badge named after an ape.

On behalf of 343, I apologize for making a celebrated moment a hurtful moment." 343 Industries says the nameplate was originally named "Bonobo" in reference to a developer tool -- and they claim it was an oversight on their end. In response to the backlash, the video game developer renamed the nameplate to "Freedom" and then to "Juneteenth."

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Image courtesy of "Game Revolution"

Halo Infinite Draws Fire After Celebrating Juneteenth With Bonobo ... (Game Revolution)

Halo Infinite has drawn allegations of racism after a Juneteenth nameplate was briefly called Bonobo before being renamed to Freedom.

- The Ranked Arena matchmaking playlist is now unlocked by completing 25 matches in other non-Ranked playlists. The changes in this update include adding the Season 2 artwork to loading screens and quicker loading times in some areas of the game. Additionally, these menus will now consistently show all unlocked items. The latest Halo Infinite update is the first of the so-called drop pod updates, smaller updates that focus on bug fixes and minor gameplay improvements. We are a studio and franchise that is committed to inclusivity where everyone is welcome and supported to be their true self. The Bonobo is, of course, a species of great ape and this immediately attracted allegations of racism on social media channels before the nameplate color palette was rapidly updated.

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Image courtesy of "Windows Central"

Halo Infinite insensitive Juneteenth color palette quickly removed in ... (Windows Central)

Halo developer 343 Industries has drawn heavy criticism over a Juneteenth-themed nameplate added to Halo Infinite that had a racially insensitive color ...

While the original name refers to an internal toolset, it was not intended to be applied to this content and we recognize the harm it may have caused," Junyszek said. Later in the day, the name was changed again — this time to "Juneteenth," which is still the current title at the time of writing. Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries is currently facing significant backlash from the Halo community after a color palette for a nameplate called "Bonobo" was added to the game on June 14.

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Image courtesy of "For The Win"

Halo Infinite developer changes racially offensive Juneteenth cosmetic (For The Win)

Juneteenth is coming up and some video games are commemorating the emancipation of enslaved people in the U.S. with in-game cosmetics.

On behalf of 343, I apologize for making a celebrated moment a hurtful moment.” “Thank you for bringing this to our attention,” 343’s community manager said in a tweet reply. Among them is Halo Infinite, which offered up a nameplate palette so that you can sport Juneteenth’s colors on your username.

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Image courtesy of "SVG"

343 apologizes for highly offensive Halo Infinite cosmetic (SVG)

To say that "Halo Infinite" has been the subject of significant backlash over the last couple of years would be an understatement.

It's been enough of an explanation that some "Halo" fans have been able to accept it, while still arguing that the mistake should never have happened in the first place. 343 Industries founder Bonnie Ross took to Twitter to issue a statement to fans: "We were made aware of a palette option for our Juneteenth emblem that contained a term that was offensive and hurtful. According to 343 Industries, "Bonobo" is actually the name of a program used by the development team. One of the more high-profile responses came from OpTic "Halo" pro player aPG, who expressed his disgust with the palette name and his reluctance to continue supporting the company through his esports career. In observance of Juneteeth — the day marking the 1865 freeing of enslaved people in Texas — 343 Industries released a new nameplate customization palette for the game. The latest controversy to hit "Halo Infinite," however, may be the most upsetting yet.

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Image courtesy of "Video Games Chronicle"

343 Industries apologises for offensive Halo Infinite Juneteenth ... (Video Games Chronicle)

To mark Juneteenth, an annual commemoration of the end of slavery in the US, the studio released an emblem which included a palette option called “Bonobo”, ...

On behalf of 343, I apologize for making a celebrated moment a hurtful moment.” “The team immediately addressed this issue via an update. To mark Juneteenth, an annual commemoration of the end of slavery in the US, the studio released an emblem which included a palette option called “Bonobo”, which is the name of an endangered ape.

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