343 Industries boss Bonnie Ross has responded to the recent Halo Infinite Juneteenth controversy. To celebrate Juneteenth, 343 Industries released a Juneteeth Halo Infinite emblem called Bonobo. Almost immediately, this began to make the rounds with many on Twitter, Reddit, and elsewhere slamming the release. Since then, some have pointed out that “Bonobo” is a reference to an old program that was in an old Bungie Vidoc of the same name. That said, this explanation wasn’t enough to extinguish the concerns about the emblem’s release.
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All of this erupted last night when 343 Industries had no chance to issue any type of apology. Today though, founder and head of 343 Industries, Bonnie Ross, took to Twitter to issue an apology for the emblem’s release. As you would expect, the emblem’s name has also since been changed.
“We were made aware of a palette option for our Juneteenth emblem that contained a term that was offensive and hurtful. The team immediately addressed this issue via an update,” said Ross. “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.”
At the moment of publishing, Ross’ statement is the only statement that has been issued from 343 Industries. There’s been nothing from the official Halo Twitter account about the incident, but it has retweeted Ross’ tweet. If this changes, we will be sure to update the story accordingly. In the meantime, for more coverage on Halo Infinite — including not just all of the latest official news, but all of the latest unofficial rumors, leaks, and speculation — click here.
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Halo Infinite is available via Xbox One, Xbox One S, Xbox One X, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series S, and PC. Like all first-party Xbox games, it’s also available via Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
