Long time readers will remember that bloggers here at HaT share a pet peeve regarding fauxpologies. My feeds are full of this story today: an accidentally released developer’s build of the new game Dead Island had placeholder code that read “feminist whore” for one of the skills listed for the only female character. Predictably, once the gamer who found the code publicised it, trenchant criticism ensued. The company in this case, Techland, has responded rapidly and refreshingly:
It has come to our attention that one of Dead Island’s leftover debug files contains a highly inappropriate internal script name of one of the character skills. This has been inexcusably overlooked and released with the game.
The line in question was something a programmer considered a private joke. The skill naturally has a completely different in-game name and the script reference was also changed. What is left is a part of an obscure debug function. This is merely an explanation but by no means an excuse. In the end that code was made a part of the product and signed with our company name. We deeply regret that fact and we apologize to all our customers or anyone who might have been offended by that inappropriate expression.
The person responsible for this unfortunate situation will face professional consequences for violating the professional standards and beliefs Techland stands for.
Other corporations/politicians/journalists/comedians – please take note. This is how an apology is done – regret and responsibility. No “if people were offended” bullshit where the responsibility for outrage is weaselled from the perpetrator to those who call it out.
Bonus nerd-shaming in coverage from ComputerAndVideogames.com:
Someone with programming know-how and a really boring life, we imagine, has discovered a line of code hidden in Dead Island…
What is it with people writing for tech sites lately sneering at a core component of their readership?
Categories: arts & entertainment, fun & hobbies, gender & feminism, media, technology
Hoyden About Town 
Beautifully done. It reminds me of this post by Greta Christina where she provided a similar example.
I’m genuinely amazed by how much my opinion improves of a person or company when they get it and make a proper apology. Techland is officially in my good books . . . not that I’ve ever bought anything from them, but I’m sure warm feelings as are good as purchase 🙂
@Liz, thanks for linking to that classic post. The bit where she deals with meaningful apologies is such a small part of a long and complex post that many people might have missed (I did, actually), so I very much appreciate you highlighting it.
BTW, here’s an excellent post full of informative links to give to anybody saying “what sexist culture?” about gaming and game developers: Dead Island’s “Feminist Whore”: The Tip of the Iceberg
wundergeek’s take at Go Make Me A Sandwich: Dead Island shitstorm: even if it was a “private joke”, it’s still not okay