Steam User Finds Misogynistic "Joke" Buried in Dead Island Code [UPDATED]

[Logan Westbrook]

Steam User Finds Misogynistic "Joke" Buried in Dead Island Code [UPDATED]

Developer Techland has included some less-than-PC language in the code for Dead Island.

The code for Dead Island [http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Island-Pc/dp/B004PAGJMO/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1315486981&sr=8-3] has turned up some interesting things. Earlier in the week, it was revealed that the version of the game on Steam was actually a debug version never intended to be seen by the public [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112801-Dead-Island-Dev-Could-Have-Released-Wrong-Version-to-Steam], and today we've learned that someone on the dev team seems to have an "interesting" attitude towards women.

Tucked away in the code for Purna's - a former cop, turned bodyguard - skills is an entry for a skill called "FeministWhorePurna." Steam user AlekseiVasiliev discovered the entry, and posted it to the official Steam forums [http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2106493]. It's thought that the entry refers to Purna's "Gender Wars" skill, which grants her a bonus to the damage she deals to male zombies. The fact that other entries in the file have names like "MeleeDurabilityPurna" and "TeamSpirit2Purna," which don't directly refer to the skills Purna uses in game, make this scenario seem all the more likely.

I'd imagine - or hope, at least - that this is some really, stupendously, dumb in-joke at Techland, and not indicative of someone's actual attitudes. All the same, this is not something that should have made it into the final code, even if Techland didn't think that anyone would see it. We've reached out to Techland to see if it has any comment on this discovery and will update when and if we hear anything back.

Update: Techland has issued a statement regarding the issue.

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.

Permalink

 

[Stall]

Who gives a shit about misogyny? Besides, isn't there something more important in the world to complain about? Like the actual STATE of Dead Island on Steam instead of some silly little line of code?

The second post on the Steam thread nails it: QQ more.

 

[Mr.Pandah]

Hahaha that's pretty good. What? I can't laugh at this?

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Meh, not liking feminists is nothing new. I don't really think this holds any discussion value based on the misogyny but rather on the respect for the product from Techland employees. It seems a bit foolish to name it that, especially when mistakes like this happen. Now they have to deal with the issue.

 

[Sneaky-Pie]

Excellent. This will cause a storm so over the top and unnecessary that it will be amusing to watch.

Good... good...

 

[jmarquiso]

And what if he was being serious? Feminists are unreasonable creatures. So unreasonable they surpassed PETA a long time ago. They deserve all the hate they get.

Depends on the school of feminism you talk about, and your comment shows how misguided public perception of the politics are.

 

[TheIronRuler]

This is an unfortunate mistake. It is very funny, but still it shows that they could have used some more time with the product to polish it and to find these small problems.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I bet if it said something against men on a male character, like "pig", nobody would say a thing about it being bad.

 

[LiquidGrape]

And what if he was being serious? Feminists are unreasonable creatures. So unreasonable they surpassed PETA a long time ago. They deserve all the hate they get.

You sure you didn't mean to visit The Spearhead or something? Because you'd fit right in with that lot.

 

[Hagi]

Wow! That's actually too stupid and sad to be offended by.

This means a programmer actually sat there thinking about the most clear identifier he could use and he came up with "FeministWhore"...

Ah well, just means there is/was a programmer working there with the mental maturity of a pubescent. But there's likely plenty of them around the world, just a shame this had to end up in publicity. Stupidity is generally best reserved for drunken bar trips and anonymous internet rants.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I shouldn't be disappointed by that, the game industry is hardly a shining example of gender equality. The maladjusted basement dwelling male gamer stereotype is an exageration, but sometimes it's hard to totally deny.

 

[Loreley]

And what if he was being serious? Feminists are unreasonable creatures. So unreasonable they surpassed PETA a long time ago. They deserve all the hate they get.

I'm going to show this to every male gamer who asks why women don't feel welcome in some corners of gaming fandom.
(I agree feminism has become a somewhat unfortunate synonym for man-hating, but most real life feminists actually only support the shocking idea that men and women are equal.)

About that tidbit up there... talk about sloppy. If you have to act like a jerk, at least try to be a little less obvious about it, it's better for you in the long run.

 

[Azuaron]

Let me get this straight... she has a skill... that does more damage... when she attacks men... and people are complaining about what it's named in the code more than the blatant misandry of that skill?

Seriously, if there was a male character that had a skill to do extra damage against female enemies (it could still be publicly named Gender Wars and privately named, I don't know, MisogynistAsshole or something) and people would, again, flip out on behalf of women.

Edit: Lots of people are mentioning Fallout's Lady Killer/Black Widow perks. There's a couple reasons why they don't actually compare:

1. There's both. By giving the player both choices, the game holds itself neutral.

2. Fallout allows you to be evil. Your character does not have a scripted story and barely has a scripted background that's relevant. You are who you want to be, and the game, once again, holds itself neutral.

 

[intheweeds]

Well, I wish he hadn't written that.

As a woman: it makes me sad. Hearing that makes me feel hurt inside. Not because I have some weird feeling that it affects me in any way, but it just hurts to know there are people out there who would write such things about women - at work where they are supposed to be on their best behavior.

As a woman with male friends: it makes me sad for them because this type of thought process is exactly the reason any women who mistrust men do it. Because a few men think like this and act worse, women are more careful around men. That isn't fair to men who haven't done anything wrong and makes me sad for them.

This type of thing should make everyone sad, really.

 

[juraigamer]

Men and women are equal, it's just that feminists, the ones called that, are well... that B word.

 

[EnigmaticSevens]

Hey now people! It's not misogny, it's backstory, don't ya know! Before becoming a police officer, Purna was obviously a Hooker With a Heart of Gold and strong feminist leanings, boldly declaring her right as a woman to sell her squishy bits to whomever she pleased. She tolerated no pimp, and was fondly known by the other working girls as Mama P.

 

[Archer666]

Who gives a shit about misogyny? Besides, isn't there something more important in the world to complain about? Like the actual STATE of Dead Island on Steam instead of some silly little line of code?

The second post on the Steam thread nails it: QQ more.

Yeah, fuck that shit. Women's rights? The only right they have is staying in the kitchen. Hatespeech against women? Please, its not my fault they dress like whores and seem to believe they're equal to a man. Ain't that right, buddy?

And yes, video games are so much important than hateful language against another human being.

 

[Stall]

This is an unfortunate mistake. It is very funny, but still it shows that they could have used some more time with the product to polish it and to find these small problems.

Um, it has nothing to do with polish. Techland pulled an epic boner, and released a dev build of Dead Island to Steam instead of the gold version. Keep up with the news, would you?

 

[PaganFury]

/Sits down and waits for faux news to have a #$%& fit about it.

Who has so little to do that they randomly scan the code of their new games. Theres no way he could of beaten it yet.