Bungie promises deeper content vetting over Destiny 2 symbol
Bungie will conduct a process review after completely "scrubbing" the symbol from the game and promotional materials
Bungie has pledged to "more deeply vet" the content in its games, after an armour design bearing what closely resembled a real-world hate symbol was shipped to Destiny 2.
In a post on its website, Bungie reiterated that the similarity was "completely unintentional," and it will follow-up its removal of the symbol from the in-game armour with, "another patch to remove the same element from the UI icon and preview screens, scrubbing it from the game altogether."
However, the developer wanted to go further and clarify how the symbol made it into the game in the first place. Apparently, the origin of the design goes all the way back to June 2015.
"Graphic designers routinely reference real world art, iconography, typeface, and other design elements to inform the choices they make," the company said. "In this case, some of the reference imagery featured the simple mirrored chevron shapes found in the finished piece.
"Some graphic design that belongs to sports teams provided some inspiration as well, along with some primitive shapes and chevrons that were used to permeate our Guardian class iconography."
The symbol was initially flagged by one of Bungie's teams, "responsible for reviewing content for cultural, geographical, and other sensitive issues. Unfortunately, that review was conducted to explore whether or not we were comfortable with the connection to the original, innocuous 'kek' internet meme. The more contemporary, vile derivation that has been repurposed by hate groups was not surfaced through this process, and therefore, the armor was approved for ship."
Bungie said that there was "no degree of malicious intent" behind the symbol, but the oversight will nevertheless lead to new processes for deeper vetting of content, "to shield us, and our community, from inappropriate imagery."
"We want everyone to know their identity is welcome in our studio and in the worlds we create. This isn't merely a platitude, but an official pillar we hold ourselves, and our work to. It is also a clarion call for the type of people we want to bring into our studio to help us make better games."