WB Games Says Zombies Aren't Screaming The N-Word During Back 4 Blood Beta

From TheGamer: "The Back 4 Blood beta seems to be a success. Fans of Left 4 Dead were happy to get back into the universe and murder hordes of zombies as the spiritual successor played pretty similarly to the original. However, while players enjoyed the death and blood, a few of them were left shocked when the zombies suddenly turned racist."

[AspiringProGenji]

NIAAAGH

[oof46]

Dingeeerrrrrrrr!

[isarai]

Eh, definitely not intentional, but with everything else going on, certainly close. Just edit out the first but so it's just "gaah!" And easily avoid this if you want. Or just leave it in and we all have a good chuckle cause anyone taking this seriously is trying too hard lol

[gold_drake]

maybe they're korean zombies. that word has a whole other meaning to them ha

[LucasRuinedChildhood]

It's just two overlapping audio clips (zombie growls) so it's definitely accidental. The audio team would have worked hard on this stuff so they likely won't actually remove anything, and will fix it by getting more control over the audio pipeline. That's why they can't fix it straight away.

"Or just leave it in and we all have a good chuckle cause anyone taking this seriously is trying too hard" You said yourself that it's "certainly close" to the N word. I don't know why you'd be happy for it to stay. It says in the article that the developers are already going to fix it.

[LucasRuinedChildhood]

@laketoprung

Lad, you can't be calling other people fake. You made your account in the last 20 minutes and you're pretending to be multiple people.

Stop spamming and see a therapist.

[isarai]

"I dont know why you'd be happy for it to stay" did say i would be happy if it stayed? i just think it's a silly coincidence. And the juxtaposition of it is kinda humorous. Like a baby saying a swear word before it even really learns how to talk, yeah it's crass but anyone with a level head can find the humor in this situation. There's no intended ill will here, but people are trying really hard to make it seem that way. I don't really care if they change it or not, i just think it's funny 🤷‍♂️

[JackBNimble]

I suppose the dev's should take a knee too right?

Can we get over this racial garbage and get back to living life. Not everything is racist except when a certain group pushes it to be racist.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

I'm going to assume you're not a minority. Asking people to get over "racial garbage" is like asking the sun not to come up. There will NEVER be any getting over it. Now with that being said some people are in fact just a little bit to sensitive...

[TheRealHeisenberg]

Maybe we can get over this "racial garbage" if a certain group would just stop being racist. I know that is too much to ask though.

[itBourne]

@TheRealHesenberg
Would that group be the ones screaming racism as they literally make everything on the planet racial? Hard to get rid of racism when all they want to do is base things on race lmao, the irony.

[Sayai jin]

The thing is that he is actually a minority in the world and will be in the US in a few more decades. If he lives in the US, children under the age 14 are children of color. It will not be a problem for most people, just a sub group of people.

[Acecalibur]

If you're not a minority, then everything is racial garbage right? You obviously haven't lived it. Make some friends who have. Talk to them about it. But then again you're probably not the type that would want to do that.

[TheRealHeisenberg]

@itBourne

I sure you know, because you are probably in one of them, that I am referring to the group(s) that march through towns screaming "Jews will not replace us.", that wear white hoods and burn crosses on lawns, that go into a church and kill black people, that go into a mosque and kill Muslims, that their chase transgender supporters out of CPAC, that stormed the capital on January 6th in a failed coup attempt, that want the freedom to use the N-word but also want freedom from the consequences of using the N-word. I'm only referring to the good ole USA here but this obviously happening on a larger scale.

Lol, the irony you say?

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Niiaaagggghhh

[Muigi]

Fairytale is so trash lol

[Teflon02]

Someone who doesn't even know the shows name isn't really worth worrying about lol.

Fairy Tail

[Muigi]

@Tedlon02 I guarantee I watch more anime than you…I misspelled it on purpose to mock it smartass

[vfl523]

NERD FIGHT!!!

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Whelp I can't compare about a nerd fight in my opinion but FT is alright in my opinion.

@vfl

[Muigi]

@vfl You have an account on N4G…your a NERD too lmfaoo!

[BrainSyphoned]

We're Nerds, you're a douche.

[OMGitzThatGuy]

Fairy Fail, where the power of friendship trumps everything, even gods.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Date A Live is my jam.. Season 4 in October! Need me some Tohka goodness!

[XiNatsuDragnel]

@yui

Facts plus Bleach in 2022 please yes.

[JCOLE13195]

I didn’t know they had toxic COD players as zombies in this game

[TheDoomedGuy]

Oh no. The zombies saying niaaagh!
I'm sure many were so horrified of these zombie sounds they had to put the game down.
Lol
Who would this be offending. Myself and the black community are so used to hearing the word that i can't imagine any of us being actually offended or left "shocked"
I grew up hearing this word nearly every day.

Now if the zombies had a tendency of saying the n word and only attacking the black characters in the group then sure...maybe there's some racism embedded in the code

Lol now we're going to dictate what sounds zombies are allowed to make hahah

[thesoftware730]

It should offend you man "the actual word". Why is ok for people to say that I'm not talking about the zombies.

Just look, It's such a big deal to call someone a Fa*ot now, people get hammered for it. What makes you think the N-word is acceptable now? because you heard it in black communities where you grew up? I heard Fa*ot a lot as well, I dare you to go out and call someone that in public, see what happens..but if you scream the N-word its ok, no big deal.

It's the way you are getting your brain trained in America man, pay attention..I know this is a gaming site but your comment of "use to hearing it in your community" means nothing to the way its used to downgrade someone. Go watch some vids of how hateful people use it opposed to hearing it in your community growing and you will see there is a difference. Pay attention to all the off limit words for other races and sexual preferences and tell me why this word is accepted and the others are taboo...pay attention man, you being trained to accept the negative towards a certain race, its passive downgrading so people can always look at a race a certain way.

With that said, I honestly don't think it was meant to be that in the game, they are patching it anyway..like you I'm not offended by a mistake sound from a video game zombie.

[MeteorPanda]

jesus christ.

go look up 'wog' as a slur in Australia and how we turned it positive. literally joked about it til ut became one. wogboy on yt is funny af and plays a good comedic stereotype

ANY word can be bad if used badly, you goddamn potato peeler.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

@thesoftware730

Don't worry man. You are wasting your time. There are a lot of people on n4g that are highly suspect when it comes to the issue of race and other things.

They say "don't let a word have so much power over you" or offend you, but will be quick to call the mods or call for a ban if you were to call them a fanboy or badmouth their favorite console manufacturer.

Hell they call for bans for certain websites because they may view it as extremely bias toward or against something/someone or because they scored their beloved exclusive a 1/5 or a 2/10. . . They'll call bloody murder and sign petitions for low review scores, but say a derogatory term. . .? "Yo bro you're easily offended", Hilarious.

FYI for the inevitable responses (or reply-less disagrees), I know that the zombies aren't actually saying the n-word, though it can easily be misheard as such and obviously the developers did intend for the outcome to be close to the word either so a simple change
should be no big deal either way, but of course there are people here that have an issue with them changing it for some strange reason. . . I wonder why.

[TheDoomedGuy]

No...just no. The word is part of black culture. Sure someone can use it as a negative. Nowadays in its use it means brother more than anything else. Just cuz the media has decided to blow it up to create this illusion of white vs black again doesn't mean it's true.

[Ristul]

Words are only powerful if you allow it to affect you, make jokes about the word and it will lose all power over you. To take offence is something you create in your own mind.

[thesoftware730]

@Meteor

You serious? So you are implying the words used to demean people should all just be turned into a joke? This might get deleted but follow me, so because "Wog" an Australian word that also demeaned Northern African was somehow lessened means the N-word is ok? Do it make the N-Word in Australia a good term?

How about
Faggot
Kike
Chink
Rug head

By your logic, all those should be made into jokes and laughed about? You are an Idiot.

Potato peeler? ok I guess.

[thesoftware730]

@Outside
That is 100% true. I acknowledge people only make a fuss about things they like or affect them personally. It's the sad truth, of course a non-AA person in many cases wont care about the N-Word being used and write it off as "no big deal" and vice versa with AA, other races and other racial slurs. You understand my point, and it wasn't to change the world but, TheDomedGuy chose to state "He and the Black Community" which I'm not sure who made him the voice for me, as I am part of the "Black community".

[thesoftware730]

@TheDoomedGuy

Look more power to your ignorance, but next time use yourself as your barometer and not a whole community which you don't speak for in the slightest.

I also acknowledge the media's obsession with race, but who runs the media? The perception of certain races being bad affects who more? In other words, which races get more negatively impacted by the media's obsession with race? Pay attention my man, I'm friends with almost all ethnicities and an easy going guy, but that don't mean you need to keep your eyes closed. Please believe racism is alive and thriving, the media definitely expands on it..It's up to you to pay attention.

I'm done with this topic this is not really the place for it, I love video games..and apologies to gamers here for games.

btw, I enjoyed B4B beta on PC with my friends, will download it day one on GP..GP FTW lol.

[TheDoomedGuy]

Socialists run the media. The whole point of socialism which inevitably leads to communism is to pit races and classes against each other. My eyes are wide open.

And of course I use myself as a barometer and since i technically belong to the same community.
You are friends with almost all ethnicities? Wow, congrats man...did you get a medal or acheivement or something. Im friends with lots of people and ethnicity never comes to mind.

And I guess yeah. If you decided to turn it into a political discussion this isnt the place. I posted my opinion above and you werent under any obligation to engage in it. My opinion on the matter was that it was a pretty funny thing and definitely not offensive in any way as i dont think anyone was actually "shocked"

And yes racism is alive but not very much in the US. In fact it isnt thriving. Its important not to confuse bias with racism. Racism targets a whole race in a very negative and violent way. Peoples opinions that are formed through experiences with different people create an impression on the individual which could be negative or positive but gets nowhere close to racism. Someone being hesitant about me due to my skin color is more to due with their past experiences than racism. OR as in the case of Poland...my skin color is a rarity so of course they stare and have wild opinions. Just like the natives had wild opinions about the western man and vice versa.

That said I do also very much plan on playing B4B on PC...through gamepass as well.

[Sayai jin]

A hyper partisan speaking hyperbolic and in extremes. The conversation has devolved.

Racism does not mean it has to violent. Man, people can't be this ignorant.

OutsidetheBox, yes he exposed himself. If you give people enough time, most will expose themselves.

[thesoftware730]

Bias? You are definitely one of the most naive people I ever seen on a message board.

Your definition of a Racist is also wrong...please let us discontinue this, you are actually making me feel a bit of sadness for you.

Last question? Did the KKK all had bad experiences with black people and are bias towards them? Neo nazi, bad experience with a black person? Slavery, did that start because of a black was messing around and did something bad?

Did a Jewish guy spit on Hitler and he decided to kill them all? Then had a nation of followers who all had individual problems with Jewish.

All the neo Nazi who rallied 2 years ago each had individual bias towards other races?..your logic is so out there, it makes no sense.

But I get it, you live Poland, I think you might be a bit out of touch..do you read news and follow American stories?

Do you see the Aisian getting beat 1/2 to death on a regular basis now?

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

"And yes racism is alive but not very much in the US. In fact it isnt thriving. Its important not to confuse bias with racism. Racism targets a whole race in a very negative and violent way. Peoples opinions that are formed through experiences with different people create an impression on the individual which could be negative or positive but gets nowhere close to racism. Someone being hesitant about me due to my skin color is more to due with their past experiences than racism."

lol you just exposed yourself. . .

Your past experience with someone of a particular race should have NO bearing on another INDIVIDUAL within the same race. If you aren't racist you should be able to see past the color of someone's skin and view them as a new individual that you have never met before.

"OR as in the case of Poland...my skin color is a rarity so of course they stare and have wild opinions. Just like the natives had wild opinions about the western man and vice versa."

This is where you further lose. On one hand you say if someone is hesitant about a person's skin color it's about past experiences, yet on the other hand, you say your skin color is a rarity in Poland hence some would have wild opinions. A skin color being a rarity in Poland should mean than most Polish people have little to zero past experiences with said skin color and thereby should not be hesitant when meeting them since they don't have the "bad past experience" to create negative assumptions. It's deeper and more complicated than what you are suggesting.

[TheDoomedGuy]

How can it have no bearing??? Let me get this straight...if you come across a wolf would you be worried that it might hurt you....OR are you so dumb that you figure hey maybe it won't hurt me that was just the other wolf that did that.

Same rules apply in human behavior towards others...just like how so many claim that cops are bad and should be defunded simply because of a few bad experiences...it becomes generalized. It's not racism. It's how you survive.

For instance...if you see a guy in the street that is behaving like a drunkard you would hesitate to get near them. If it looks like 5hey have a weapon you'd freaking cross the street. It's not racism. It's basic human instinct. You're not devaluing and claiming that individual is less 5han human and shouldnt have the same rights.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

You do realize that a person's skin color/race has no bearing on their behavior right? Comparing someone's skin color to that of a wild animal or a drunk or someone with weapon is beyond silly and not worthy of a response.

[plmkoh]

Now I'm going to notice.

[slowgamer]

Zombies seemed more polite even if it was true than the player on the second clip

[XXXL]

Everything is racist! Grab the pitchforks and torches! SMH

[JEECE]

I think they are saying "Dinger."

[XXXL]

Lol. The Rockies mascot is a grand wizard!!

[seanpitt23]

How can you make a game worse than left 4 dead 2 which came out over a decade ago.. it blows my mind

[JEECE]

Well, considering that most multiplayer games that come out now (either PVP or co-op) are inferior to similar experiences from 10-15 years ago, it's really not surprising.

[Loktai]

How did starcraft 2 end up worse than 1 or a great franchise like Warcraft end up as a cringe MMO ? How did we end up going from super Mario world and Mario RPG to the more recent Mario games .... how did we go from ff7 and ff8 , ff9 to ff13 and 15..... I don't even want to think about it.

[Elda]

As long as they fix the audio by the time the game officially releases.

[DaGR8JIBRALTAR]

Why is it even in the game to begin with?

[justadelusion]

LOL

[Popsicle]

People give words far too much power over them.

[sourOG]

That’s what happens when every facet of your life revolves around race and victimhood. I believe they heard it, 100%. I bet they hear and see a lot of shit that isn’t there.

[Christopher]

People who use words to hurl abuses at others can't deal with the consequences of their actions.

[Popsicle]

How can one assert this when these zombies are paying the ultimate price for their racist action?

[fitofficial]

Whew. For a second there I thought the zombies were racists too. That's a load off my mind.

[sourOG]

Lmao society is going brain dead quick.

[XXXL]

Society flatlined a while ago.

[sourOG]

True but even my optimism got a hard kick in the nuts. Surely people can’t be this f***ing dumb, right? They are lol. They really are.

[thorstein]

The unintentional irony of that statement coming from you. I have only interacted with you twice. Once when you claimed you were the expert on sexual harassment, and now, the expert on race. Claim to be an optimist, yet you are as sour as they come.

[sourOG]

One other interaction? That’s a shitty poll sample for such a harsh opinion. I haven’t claimed to be an expert on anything lol. I don’t remember you or our last conversation but I can pretty much guarantee I didn’t say it then either. I’m not an expert, I have an opinion like anyone else. You projected that onto me and then argued against it lol. You are basically saying my opinions are brain dead but how am I wrong? What post are you even talking about?

I am an optimist, I hope for the betterment of all us lol. I’m the chillest dude you’d ever meet. My name sourog is a weed strain not my mood lol. The heart of American society died a long time ago, xxxl is right about that. But self preservation still existed, the logical side was still turning. That’s done now. It’s just true.

[-Hermit-]

The west is so obsessed with race these days that they hear slurs in everything.

[boing1]

During the beta, no. It'll be in the full version, though.

[FPS_D3TH]

We need a hard times article where this was actually their intention. It’s honestly too funny this has to be said. What’d they expect?

[BrainSyphoned]

Sorry, I was just playing rap in the back ground. Guess I'll stick with MJ's Thriller next time for Zombies with some class.

[1nsomniac]

There’s no denying it sounds exactly like it. Whether intentional or not, Absolutely amazed it got through QA. I suppose in this day an age no publicity is bad publicity for PR…

[sourOG]

You hear anything you are primed to hear. You went in looking for an n word and found it.

It happens all of the time. People swear they hear Biden saying “my butts been wiped!”. He obviously doesn’t say this but once you are primed to look for that you can kinda make it out and it’s funny.

https://youtu.be/sWEYiIAABY...

It got past Q and A because they weren’t looking for Nbombs.

[Christopher]

When they admit that it happens and you try to act like it's because the individual wants to hear it.

"The audio is a result of two different Ridden growls that are playing simultaneously and when heard together sound like that word. We are working diligently to fix this issue, which should be completed either in time for the Beta, or when the game launches.”

[sourOG]

Yes you can’t unhear it once you are looking for it. I literally gave an example lol.

[1nsomniac]

You can literally go and watch/listen to all the videos for yourself.

I’m not primed for anything. I randomly watched a video and very, very clearly heard it myself. Out of morbid curiosity i then decide to watch more videos because I couldn’t believe that it wasn’t some kind of bug. Then I just ended up actually pretty shocked by the whole thing.

It’s not a jumbled sound clip, it’s not interwoven through other sounds. It’s a singular voiced clear scream. In fact in some videos it’s the only sound that can be heard. You don’t have to struggle to differentiate it from other environmental sounds. It’s one clear voice, if you don’t hear it your blind ignorance is getting the better of you.

[Silver_ShadoWolf]

All I see is staged publicity.

[DaGR8JIBRALTAR]

Just watched the clips, wtf is THAT all about?

[JokerBoy129]

After seeing rocks in the news being "racist" it's hard to take these people seriously anymore.

[adamwparker]

Good thing it's a beta. That's what these things are for, right? To test the game in the market. Weed out any bugs or unpopular issues.
If enough people think this too closely resembles a racist slur, edit that sound out of the game.

I don't think there's any intention at all, but it's better to just remove it and replace the sound.
The game kicks ass. No need to keep any negativity associated with it if you can help it.

And for the record, I do think it is really close to the N word. Can't unhear it now.

[wenaldy]

Obligatory

https://youtu.be/jXxRRGVQkb...

[Michiel1989]

Mega64, good times!

[Patanu]

This is the first time I heard about this and watching some clips, yeah that does sounds a bit like it. But they could probably rerecord or cut out that noise. Its the always online detail that really going to hurt this game if they dont work on fixing that.

[PurpHerbison]

People hear what they want to hear though. Reminds me of the investigation the Colorado Rockies launched because a man was yelling 'Dinger!'(Their mascot) and he was accused of saying the n-word.

[Christopher]

They literally said it happens.

"The audio is a result of two different Ridden growls that are playing simultaneously and when heard together sound like that word. We are working diligently to fix this issue, which should be completed either in time for the Beta, or when the game launches.”

[PurpHerbison]

"Sounds like that word."

But isn't.

Just like "Dinger" when yelled sounds like the n-word, but isn't.

[Christopher]

If people are hearing something that sounds like the word, you can't say people hear what they want to hear. They are hearing something that sounds just like the word.

It doesn't matter if it isn't the word, because it's two sounds overlapping, it still sounds just like the word which is the same as far as hearing it and is also tremendously bad PR for an online game to have built in.

[kevinsheeks]

look up the key and peele skit white zombie lol

[kevinsheeks]

Also I tend to avoid these type of topics because it usually does attract legit racist or trolls, the keen eye can see it in the comments.

[Bronbron92]

Crazy people will hear anything and run with it, does it sound close to the N word yes, but is it saying it? HELL NAH, people need to stop being so sensitive and picky about things man this is a game where you kill thousands of zombies much violence and language but a zombie dialogue sounding slightly to a racial slur crosses the line! Come guys just move on

[TheHan]

Though I think people want to make a big deal over nothing, I just find it ridiculous.

[The7Reaper]

People want to call out something for being racist so bad they're starting to hear things now, like that dude at a recent baseball game who yelled the teams mascots name "Dinger" but of course everyone immediately vilified him because they heard what they wanted to hear.

[John_McClane]

Probably just someone playing rap music too loud

[46player]

🤣🤣🤣. People are looking HARD to be offended. Wow people, give it up!

[HyperMoused]

Thats pretty funny, i fully support a mode where the game knows what country you are from/race/ethnicity and then the zombies hurl racist slurs at you.

[gerbintosh]

People hear what they want to hear. Just like how people see faces in inanimate objects

[ghostrider32]

This is funnier than the time people tried to claim Resident Evil 5, was a racist game.

[Blaze929]

Dr. Umar isn't pleased

[Tedakin]

The clips on twitter are pretty hilarious.

[dbcoops]

I mean yeah they are screaming it just not intentionally apparently, that "unfortunate sound mixing" again, lol.

[giveyerheadawobble]

Do they take this out because it sounds like an unintentional slur, or do they leave it in. Hope they leave it in.

[louisemoore321]

ya please the people that ll never play the game

[antikbaka]

this word is so racist that only NYARRRRGHAAAAAs are allowed to say "NYARRRRGHAAAAA"

[thesoftware730]

All the people saying people are dumb and look for racism in anything need to STFU. Not one comment on here did I see someone saying it was intentional and fuck this game. People are just agreeing that it sound like the word plain and simple. no one is offended by the game, no one is pulling out pitch forks on here, as a matter of fact I see most people saying they like the game and will play it, myself included. We know or believe it was not intentional, stop trying to make people seem over sensitive on here, we are plainly just speaking on the topic.

As for the people who say, "WORDS HAVE TO MUCH POWER OVER PEOPLE" ..that is fact, but you are looking at it wrong. We are all human beings and the to our core we are lead by feeling, emotions and logic, words is how we humans communicate, from business meetings, to trusting someone, to love, to hate, to happiness. I am aware of people that are way more sensitive than others but its how humans operate overall.

Just think about it, we are all on here discussing games, getting into debates, expressing how we FEEL through words, if I call someone a fanboy, and Xbot, a phony or a kiddie Nintendo lover, they are quick to defend themselves or and their opinions...through words, but let someone use a racial, or derogatory demeaning slur and then It's , "OMG, you are sensitive and Words hold to much power over you".

Its hypocrisy at its finest and people that want to come off as on another level. In a nutshell its nonsense, Humans are made up of feeling, emotions, memories and agendas, good or bad, it is what we are.

[dreamed]

This game is total trash....we played the beta for about 30 mins and all agree it's a crappy mobile game. Its just so boring,left 4 dead 2 is way ahead of this.