Halo Infinite slip-up: 343 releases Juneteenth cosmetic with inappropriate nameplate title

The 343 developers made a major error when releasing content.

[Christopher]

Saw this on Reddit yesterday. Definitely a big talking to for someone on the design team. No way that was done by mistake.

[Interloper]

Actually, it wasn't. According to what info I've managed to gather, the name itself has something to do with a development tool they either use or have used in the past.

[Christopher]

Sure. That's the excuse they gave (don't know why you say info you've managed to gather when they literally gave that excuse on Reddit). 100% a toolset and *just happens* to use the toolset name for just this item for this specific group of people where said reference is considered offensive.

https://twitter.com/MintBli...

But, just this one image had that mistake. Even though there are literal names for each template (such as Omaha there).

[Jin_Sakai]

“Sure. That's the excuse they gave (don't know why you say info you've managed to gather when they literally gave that excuse on Reddit). 100% a toolset and *just happens* to use the toolset name for just this item for this specific group of people where said reference is considered offensive.”

https://i.ibb.co/LQ0T0gP/2-...

[ABizzel1]

@Jin_Sakai

You can post it all you want, the issue is not what the toolset was named as. The issue is CLEARLY what Christopher said, they "*just happens* to use the toolset name for just this item for this specific group of people where said reference is considered offensive."

They released a Juneteenth nameplate, to celebrate the end of slavery for African-Americans, and out of all the things they could have named it they chose Bonobo, an endangered species of Apes. Knowing d@mn well it has been a lifelong insult for darker-skinned people to be referred to as apes.

Take that link and shove it right alongside 343i.

[Mr Pumblechook]

@ABizzel1 Until i came across this story on Twitter a day ago I didn't know that a bonobo is an endangered ape, I don't find it a stretch that someone at Microsoft is as ignorant on the topic of them as me. However why give the nameplate a vague name and not call it Juneteenth from the start?

[ABizzel1]

@Mr-Pum

As you said if anything it should have been named "Juneteenth" since the description of the nameplate is literally what the holiday is about "Commemorating the end of slavery in the United States".

Instead, they name it Bonobo, named after a "toolkit", which is named after an ape, and release Bonobo to celebrate African-Americas and their battle with slavery:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...

This is why people are always rightfully campaigning for diversity, representation, and inclusion.

[Orchard]

I don't buy it. Why would you be entering the tool name as a skin/dlc placeholder name? That makes no sense.

And by that logic, they'd have hundreds or thousands of 'Bonobo' entries in the tool itself, so how would you even get any work done or find what you were looking for...

Also where is the quality control? Presumably one person doesn't click a button and this goes live.

[Eonjay]

@Orchard

100% Correct.

[Jin_Sakai]

The issue is CLEARLY what Christopher said, they "*just happens* to use the toolset name for just this item for this specific group of people where said reference is considered offensive."

I never said it wasn’t. Sounds like they’re making some inappropriate jokes internally and accidentally sent it out the door. Doesn’t surprise me though being 343i.

[Zeref]

it was a genuine mistake, very unfortunate that it had to happen exactly with this nameplate though lol.

The tool that they use for nameplates is called Bonobo, and it's notoriously very finicky to work with. It defaulted back to Bonobo when somebody probably didn't use it correctly.

[Eonjay]

No one believe's that. Because its BS. In all my years of development I have never had a label default to the name a development tool, IDE, or SDK. Thats not a thing. Most defaults are either NULL, blanks, '-', 'Label(x)', 'Name' or the actual name of the var or field used. This is clearly intentional and has only happened this one time. This is not the hill to die on.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

No one believes it Zeref nii san.

[Zeref]

There is actually evidence of this. Screenshot of the tool they used before this whole controversy. It really is called Bonobo.

[generic-user-name]

It's suspicious, but if it's not a mistake, the alternative is a dev put it in there knowing if they were caught they'd be screwed, not just at Bungie, but their name would be sullied by the entire industry, maybe never finding work there again. Seems like a lot to put on the line for something that was obviously going to be spotted.

[Christopher]

People have done way dumber things. I mean, there are people who sexually harass women in the workplace regularly in the gaming industry.

[generic-user-name]

@Christopher

While that's true, they sexually harass women behind closed doors, not where everyone can immediately see it happening.

[Michiel1989]

so youre saying theyre racists? Proud man to throw those insults at them online. Maybe you should go back to twitter, seems to be your kinda thing.

I just see no reason for them to do this on purpose except if it was some rogue employee with bad intentions. Its just a bit sad that no mistakes can ever be made without people jumping the gun. Maybe im giving them the benefit of the doubt too much, but just like you there is no certainty at all.

[Christopher]

Perhaps you should learn to read. Please inform me where I called anyone racist. Let alone a whole company? Much like the Internet, people make really bad attempts at jokes in the workplace as well, let alone this got through multiple levels of QA. No one here thinks 343 has it out for Juneteenth or are a racist company.

***a bit sad that no mistakes can ever be made without people jumping the gun***

Ironic considering your response to me. And tons of mistakes go by without tons of people commenting on them. This one? It's quite a lot of coincidences stacked on top of one another for a very notable day of celebration.

[Michiel1989]

you heavily implied they are.

[Christopher]

***you heavily implied they are.***

Not at all. Stop making up stuff.

[GoodGuy09]

Idk why these companies even try to celebrate these kinds of holidays when they end up actually doing more harm lol. If they have someone in their staff that actually knows their stuff then sure, why not.

[ABizzel1]

It could be as simple as posting a "Happy Juneteenth" on Social Media, and making a post celebrating their "African-American staff" and appreciating them for their contributions to gaming.

Instead, your get crazy stuff like this, Wal-Mart attempting to capitalize on Juneteenth colored ice-cream, and so many other head-scratching moments. This is what black people mean by lack of diversity and inclusion because if there was enough of it these types of situations would be caught before becoming PR issues.

[Tacoboto]

I've got a strong inkling that the only kind of black representation at this Seattle-area game developer is a white person grandstanding about Juneteenth after they learned about it on Twitter two years ago.

[Noskypeno]

"silence is violence"

[RaiderNation]

I agree. I'm not sure when corporations decided to become activists and get publicly involved in social/political issues. I don't give a rat's ass whether or not you support this cause or that cause. Just do your job, produce your products, and let me decide whether those products are worth buying.

[SullysCigar]

In 2022, this is apparently too much to ask. This is just one example how these kinds of actions can bite them on the arse.

I'm with you 100%. Companies should stick to their purpose and leave the politics to the politicians. They don't need help effing things up!

[SeTTriP]

I don't think this was meant for celebratory purposes.

[SullysCigar]

Oof it's like they'll do anything to get someone - ANYONE - to care, at this stage.

[Futureshark]

Unbelievable! Are they are next going to release a LGBTQ+ cosmetic with the name 'f*gg*t' or similar.

Stay classy 343

[Deathdeliverer]

Actually that’s too in your face. They would do something subtle like a plaque called Giovanni di Giovanni. Then verrrry few, just like the great ape, would catch on. If they got caught they would just say it was the name of the office cat they got… yesterday.

[DarXyde]

I would expect something like "Nancy" if they were trying to be mildly subtle.

Either way, this is pretty bizarre and it makes it clear, in no uncertain terms, that 343i is run by muppets.

It reminds me of Yahoo taking about a bigger navy... But whoever wrote that article missed the "b" key and.... Yeah.

Odd that these blunders tend to go one way. Almost feels like dog whistles, frankly.

[Lexreborn2]

I’ve never used orca to re-write an msi and named the file after orca.

[darkrider]

What a mess. Microsoft really needs new leadership in their studios.

[GamingSinceForever]

Smdh!

[Elda]

That was definitely Shade on 343's part. There's always going to be that one or a few in a team that's racist.

[SullysCigar]

It's disgusting. I can't believe there are people defending this as a 'coincidence'. They knew what they were doing, they thought it was funny and they thought they'd get away with it.

Well tough luck, fellas, you got busted.

[Elda]

Exactly.

[ABizzel1]

The people who defend it really DGAF about the issue. They care more that their brand / icon thrives rather than the unknown people it affects.

And that's part of the reason why this will be a forever issue.

[Eonjay]

The actual eff...

[Julion0715]

Big fan of Xbox but this is disgusting/disappointing no defense here. Xbox should be shamed here

[ABizzel1]

As much as I complained about this, I don't even think it's an Xbox or 343i issue, whoever named this should be held accountable if that's termination, and 343i and MS need to make a public statement regarding this, and both 343i and MS need to have active diversity boards added to their ranks, to prevent thing like this from happening.

You can erase racism or ignorance, but you can silence them and let it be known it's not going to be tolerated.

[Eonjay]

So a few notes here. Obviously Microsoft (here we can use mangement, Phil + Sarah and gang) didn't approve that but the this goes back to one of the professional pitfalls folks forget:

When you work for a company, any company, you represent that company and people will form their views about the company based of your actions. This is why customer service is so critical but it goes beyond that. Whenever you have company outings, its best to remember that you are still representing the company whether its a happy hour or a comment on social media.

This is why corps like to distance themselves from problematic views and politics. If you own a company, you don't want to give potential customers any reason to avoid spending money with you because you hired an empoyee that pissed them off. People don't have the right to endanger the companys revenue or profits because of their own personal bias. Its disrespectful to the customer, the brand, the company and the other employees working hard to acheive success. They need not be there and they are free to start their own company and run it into the ground.

Professionalism isn't dead. Its part of success as an organization and I am tired of people acting like they don't understand this concept. Microsoft should lay waste to all involved with this and this includes QA and the corresponding management.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

For real like the Drm issue they need to step up and fast.

[Petebloodyonion]

LOL!
Here's 343 game plan for the future
1 Create nameplate
2 Create cosmetics for other games
3 Post updates on how we are doing with updates
4 fix game

Oops I forgot to change the step and add a new step between 1 and 2
1.5 Fix Nameplate

[akurtz]

Get woke, go broke

[LucasRuinedChildhood]

Fairly sure the employee who called emancipated black slaves "bonobos" is the opposite of woke. lol.

"Racism is woke. Get woke, go broke, mate." - akurtz

[akurtz]

My point was, as much as they want to try to be allies it wont be enough and when one mistake is made they’ll eat eachother

[LucasRuinedChildhood]

It's unlikely that the person who had the idea to honour Juneteenth in the game is also the person who used the "bonobo" title. I'd reckon that these employees have a different perspective on the world. haha

So why blame the person who came up with the idea and yell "Get woke, go broke" at them? if you try to do something decent, and an asshole ruins it, the asshole is the problem.

"Go racist, go broke" is more accurate here. It doesn't rhyme, but it's still true. I think we can all agree that calling freed black slaves "bonobos" is racist (as clear-cut as it gets), so we don't need to debate that.

"when one mistake is made they’ll eat each other"
Social media can be unforgiving and people often overreact, but I don't think this is one of those cases.

[sourOG]

Lmao. Hard to dismiss this as a mistake. If it’s coincidence then it’s just boneheaded lol. How dense are you?

On the other hand, the world health organization changing the name “monkey pox” to not be offensive lol. Who was even thinking that? You have to be a racist or a racialist to even think that was offensive in the first place. If your mind automatically goes to black people when you hear “monkey” then you are a weirdo and shouldn’t get any attention.

[anast]

I'm enjoying this train wreck. The age of big budget marketing and below average products.

[Orchard]

How does something like this even get out the gates from such a big company... what a mess. Someones job is on the line over this one.

[FPS_D3TH]

Lmao all this outrage while trying to be inclusive. Maybe, just hopefully, companies stop bothering the pandering with barely veiled attempts to make profits.

[moriarty1889]

Very poor 343. Very poor.

[RyanShutup]

wtf is juneteenth? is this a new thing? I don't ever remember hearing about this as a kid.

[Star51]

It's now a federal holiday commemorating the date all slaves were freed. Many states still kept slaves after it was illegal.

[Star51]

down votes and no explanation..? curious

[merlox]

I don't see anything wrong with the name. I wouldn't even look into where the name came from. I guess that I'm not woke enough then. Oh well.

[Muigi]

Of course this gets past them. 343 has proven that QA is optional.

[Murdability]

Who cares?

[Demetrius]

Some gaming companies nowadays are really tryna outdo eachother to see who can self destruct the worst/fastest smh rockstar, dice, EA 🤣🤣🤣

[EternalTitan]

Looks like Blizzards evil is leaking into 343 after the Microsoft buy

[Andrew336]

343 finally outted as racists!!!

/s