Warner Bros says Back 4 Blood racial slur was “unintentional”

  • Zombie-killing with friends: You’ve done this before, but Back 4 Blood makes a strong case for its version feeling surprisingly fresh.

  • This monster chases you through one act’s chapter, and you can either run away or burn through ammo resolving his disagreements.
    Turtle Rock / WB Games

  • Fog and god rays alike spill through many of B4B‘s environments.
    Turtle Rock / WB Games

  • The way light shafts filter through these branches looks even better in motion.
    Turtle Rock / WB Games

  • Fire typically does a great job annoying oncoming zombies.
    Turtle Rock / WB Games

  • So do bullets.
    Turtle Rock / WB Games

  • You can see a howitzer through the subtitles on this one.
    Turtle Rock / WB Games

  • The fog obscures some, but not all, of the impending doom in this image.
    Turtle Rock / WB Games

  • This ferry is now boarding… the dead.
    Turtle Rock / WB Games

  • Farmville.
    Turtle Rock / WB Games

  • Offer a prayer for the dead, or just stock up on weapons and ammo in that box over there.
    Turtle Rock / WB Games

  • Some real Pacific Northwest vibes in this valley.
    Turtle Rock / WB Games

A number of players taking part in the recent beta test for co-op zombie shooter Back 4 Blood were shocked to hear the undead hordes screaming what seemed to be a racial slur as they shambled forward. Now, publisher WB Games says it is working to fix an audio phenomenon it says was an “unintended” result of two separate sound files mixing during gameplay.

Twitter user HomBKE was among the first to publicize video of Back 4 Blood‘s undead “Ridden” groaning what sounds a lot like the n-word shortly after the game’s closed beta launch on Friday (“What did you call me?” he responds incredulously in the clip). User Dotodoya responded with a similar clip. Kotaku’s Zack Zweizen also reported hearing the audio over the weekend, a situation he described as “100% likely unintentional but also 100% unfortunate.”

Since then, WB Games has confirmed that supposition in a statement provided to media outlets:

Our team has been made aware of offensive language that can be heard when playing the game. This was not recorded or ever intended to be part of our gameplay. The audio is a result of two different Ridden growls that are playing simultaneously and when heard together sound like that word. We are working diligently to fix this issue, which should be completed either in time for the Beta or when the game launches.

While we didn’t notice any unintended slurs during our time with the Back 4 Blood beta, we did enjoy the Left 4 Dead-style gameplay, especially the zombies-versus-humans competitive modes. The game is set to enter open beta on Thursday before a wider release planned for October.

Listing image by Turtle Rock Studios

https://arstechnica.com/?p=1786167