Halo Infiniteis a live-service title complete with seasonal roadmaps, events, updates, and more, and last night it released an update that has sparked a huge controversy. In short, it released a newHalo Infinitenameplate in honor of Juneteenth, or June 19, which adopts the Pan-African flag depicting black, red, and green stripes, as well as golden birds. This is a common symbol of Juneteenth, but this nameplate came with a racist name.
As many know, Juneteenth is a federal holiday—officially recognized last year by President Joe Biden—that celebrates the end of slavery. This holiday lines up with the Union Army’s emancipation of enslaved people in Texas, which was the last confederate state to still have slavery at the time. It’s easy to see whygames likeHalo Infinitewould want to celebrate such a momentous occasion, but it initially dropped the ball.
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New cosmetic items were added toHalo Infinite’s multiplayerlast night. A specific nameplate option tied to Juneteenth, however, was titled “Bonobo,” which is a type of ape. The racist implications of such a title are immediately clear, but upon this discovery, theHalo Infinitedeveloper 343 quickly changed the name to “Freedom.” Obviously, this is a much better name.
343 IndustriesHead Bonnie Ross quickly stated that once the team was aware of the issue, it was fixed with an update. It was indeed a quick fix, and Ross would continue on to state that 343 is dedicated to inclusivity and apologized for “making a celebrated moment a hurtful moment.”HaloSr. Community Manager John Junyszek also weighed in, revealing that the original name comes from an internal toolset, which was not supposed to be applied here.
Despite this mistake, Junyszek also apologized for the name—recognizing the harm such a term could cause. It was no doubt out of line and incredibly distasteful, but this, the quick fix, and the new name of Freedom at least speak to 343 Industries’ awareness of the situation and attempt to correct, validate, and apologize.Halo Infinite’s Juneteenth Celebrations, in general, began yesterday and are scheduled to go until June 21. It remains to be seen ifHalo Infiniteadds any more to the Juneteenth Celebrations than what’s currently confirmed, but for those participating, they have most of the coming week to dive in.
Halo Infiniteis available now for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
