343 Industries apologises for offensive ‘Halo Infinite’ nameplate

Halo Infinite developer 343 Industries has apologised for the “offensive and hurtful” name given to one of the colour schemes for its recently released cosmetic to commemorate Juneteenth.

This is due to a new Epic nameplate titled Juneteenth, which is an annual US federal holiday celebrating the end of slavery. The player base quickly noticed (with PC Gamer reporting) that the nameplate had a secondary colour palette called “Bonobo”, a species of great ape..

Head and founder of 343 Industries, Bonnie Ross, addressed the issue on Twitter by stating the name was “offensive and hurtful”. Ross added that “we are a studio and franchise that is committed to inclusivity where everyone is welcome and supported to be their true self,” and went on to apologise for “making a celebrated moment a hurtful moment.”

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. (2/2)

— Bonnie Ross (@PlutonForEver) June 15, 2022

Halo Infinite’s creative head Joseph Staten quote tweeted Ross to offer his own apology, stating “our mistake today was inexcusable, and I’m ashamed we allowed it to happen.”

It’s unknown how the name got attributed to the nameplate. 343 Industries community manager John Junyszek has shared that the name “refers to an internal toolset”, however players have questioned how the palette’s connection to the Juneteenth nameplate made it to the live game and presumably through several quality assurance checks.

In other Halo news, it was recently announced that the long-awaited co-op update for Halo Infinite’s campaign was to undergo public testing in July. The catch is that it’s only available for those registered to the Halo Insider program, although sign-ups can be done here.

Elsewhere, Capcom has restored the older version of the Resident Evil 2 remake for PC due to the recent ray-tracing update worsening performance and breaking mods. After negative reviews and complaints from modders, the studio said future updates will not be mandatory.