Any and all sexist players planning on picking up Halo 4 next week need to learn some self-control, as the developers will ban people from both the game and Xbox Live for derogatory terms against women.
Halo 4 executive producer Kiki Wolfkill and 343 Industries head Bonnie Ross take serious issue with sexist behavior on Xbox Live, and while most people assume that a first-person, sci-fi title like Halo would be run by a bunch of dudes, this particular game is being backed by a strong female group. Microsoft always does its best to stop this type of abuse before it gets too serious, but the Halo team will have zero tolerance for Xbox Live players making offensive remarks to others.
“It can be dangerous to give adolescents a broadcast mechanism,” Wolfkill told GameSpot. “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 behavior manifest itself.”
Both Wolfkill and Ross believe that developers have a certain responsibility to control this type of behavior, as games may reflect the culture of the studio that’s building them.
“As developers, we have a personal responsibility to think about how our games come across,” Ross said. “With Halo 4, we were very deliberate in thinking about who should be female and who should be male in the game, and if we came off stereotypical, we went back to question what we were doing and why.”
Look to experience both the single player and multiplayer of Halo 4 when it launches next week on Xbox 360.
Does this type of behavior bother you, too? Do you agree with banning players for life? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below!