Valve changes offensive Artifact card name
"Crack the Whip" card used to boost black hero class will now be called "Coordinated Assault"
Valve has announced a change to the name of an Artifact card revealed ahead of the game's release, likely due to criticism of the card's offensive connotations.
Two days ago, the Artifact official Twitter account published a tweet showing off the interaction between a card then-called "Crack the Whip" and hero cards. In Artifact, cards are divided into color classes. A card can only be played on a section of the board if a hero card of the corresponding color is present on that section. In this case, "Crack the Whip" is a black card, and therefore interacts with black heroes.
The description on the card read, "Modify a black hero with, 'After you play a black card, give this hero and its allied neighbors +2 Attack this round.'" In addition, the tweet showing off the card explained that "If you play an Untested Grunt next to the whipped hero it will trigger again, and the Grunt will receive the bonus."
This post was followed by a surge of replies and retweets pointing out that the pairing of a card titled "Crack the Whip" with modifications to "black heroes" was an offensive combination.
Two days later, Valve issued a reply tweet stating, "Crack the Whip has been renamed to Coordinated Assault." Valve offered no additional comment or explanation for the change.
GamesIndustry.biz has reached out to Valve for comment.