Xbox Live is a wonderful place, filled with some less-than-wonderful prepubescent trolls who’ll happily hurl racist and sexist abuse or worse, sing, at all and sundry. Halo, a series that’s so intrinsic, and associated with Xbox Live wants to disassociate itself with that reprehensible behaviour.
Two female developers for 343 Industries, the studio created by Microsoft to carry the Halo torch after Bungie’s departure are taking a zero-tolerance approach to reports of sexism within their soon-to-be-released game, handing out lifetime bans to those who insist women belong in the kitchen.
"I’ve seen many of the sites (Such as Fat, Ugly or Slutty) that have documented some of the more gender-specific slanderous comments," 343 head Bonnie Ross said to Gamespot.
"This is behaviour that is offensive and completely unacceptable. I’d like to think most of our Xbox Live players don’t support this kind of behaviour."
"It can be dangerous to give adolescents a broadcast mechanism," added Halo 4 executive producer Kiki Wolfkill. "There are always going to be jerks out there, and if you give them a way to express that side of their personality without being seen, you’re going to see this type of behaviour manifest itself."
They want to change the perception about videogames being perceived as an exclusively male-dominated area – which is funny, because when last I checked, Cortana in Halo 4 is still a half-naked blue AI with giant breasts.
Racism, anti-Semitism and other anti-social behaviour seems to be just fine though. That aside, I’m all for less mouthy jerks in my multiplayer.
Last Updated: October 31, 2012
