Halo Infinite’s Juneteenth “Bonobo” Skin Is A Shocking Fail From Microsoft

Halo Infinite's Juneteenth "Bonobo" Skin Is A Shocking Fail From Microsoft

Halo Infinite just added a new cosmetic to commemorate Juneteenth, a federal holiday that commemorates the abolition of slavery in the United States and the nation’s continued struggle for racial equality. However, since its release, this cosmetic has sparked a storm of debate, criticism, and outrage among players. Here’s what happened with Halo Infinite’s Juneteenth.

Halo Infinite’s Juneteenth Controversial Cosmetic

Juneteeeh cosmetics features a color pallet named Bonobo, which has sparked considerable debate. A Bonobo is a sort of large ape, especially given the long and shameful history of ape metaphors being used as demeaning slurs against Black people. This was terrible, given that Juneteenth marks freedom from slavery.

Halo Infinites Juneteenth Bonobo Palette

Players clearly noticed this and raised it to the developers’ consideration. Shortly after the nameplate was discovered, 343 changed it to “Freedom,” then changed it again to the current name. According to Community Manager John Junyszek, the palette’s original name was presumably a moniker for an internal toolset. The Halo Infinite Team didn’t mean to use this name for this type of content and it was a mistake.

To further clarify Junysek’s reference to an internal development toolset, Halo streamer @MintBlitz shared a screenshot from a previous ViDoc — a term for “video documentary” used by studios such as 343 and former Halo creator Bungie — that appears to include a program called Bonobo.

Even if the name is unintentional, or even a reference to in-house software, it’s very sad to see something like this in 2022, especially during a date celebrating a victory over racism. Studios need to take further action to prevent this from happening again in the future.

Halo Infinite Wiki

Halo Infinite
Halo Infinite.png
Developer(s) 343 Industries
Publisher(s) Xbox Game Studios
Director(s)
  • Joseph Staten
  • Paul Crocker
  • Tom French
Producer(s)
  • Pierre Hintze
  • Greg Stone
  • Damon Conn
Designer(s) Jerry Hook
Programmer(s) David Berger
Artist(s)
  • Nicolas Bouvier
  • Justin Dinges
  • Donnie Taylor
Writer(s)
  • Dan Chosich
  • Paul Crocker
  • Jeff Easterling
  • Aaron Linde
Composer(s)
  • Gareth Coker
  • Joel Corelitz
  • Curtis Schweitzer
  • Alex Bhore
Series Halo
Platform(s)
  • Microsoft Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X/S
Release December 8, 2021
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer