WB Games launched the open beta for Back 4 Blood last week, a co-op survival shooter developed by the original creators of Left 4 Dead that allows players to team up in groups of four to blast away armies of “Ridden,” once-human hosts of a deadly parasite.
While fans of Valve’s zombie classic have had good things to say about its spiritual successor during the ongoing test event thus far (it’ll end today, August 9, with another beta period beginning on August 12 for PC, Xbox, and PlayStation platforms), Turtle Rock Studios’ Back 4 Blood has unfortunately managed to stir up some major controversy due to some of the voice work that can be heard in the game.
As indicated by various clips published over Twitter and other social media, some of the zombies appear to have a habit of yelling a particular racial slur as they’re rushing against the game’s heroes—the n-word, to be exact.
Naturally, the controversy hasn’t gone unnoticed by publisher WB Games. Following an initial report from Kotaku, WB Games has delivered a comment to the outlet clarifying that the offensive language wasn’t intentional.
“The audio is a result of two different Ridden growls that are playing simultaneously and when heard together sound like that word,” WB Games explained.
The publisher believes that the problem should be fixed by the time Back 4 Blood launches at the very latest.
Bro they gotta do something with this line pic.twitter.com/5As1I6oDlA
— Dotodoya (@DotoDoya) August 6, 2021
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.
Source: Kotaku