Bungie Faces Backlash Over “Latinx” Post on Twitter

Video game studio Bungie faced massive backlash on Twitter/X due to a post regarding its new inclusive initiative. The game company was under fire due to its post supporting the use of the controversial “Latinx” terminology, a label that has proven divisive within the Latin community. A significant portion of this community views "Latinx" as a controversial and potentially disrespectful term, further intensifying the backlash against Bungie's tweet. While Bungie is yet to make an official statement following the backlash, it has made several attempts to hide replies from its inclusive initiative post. 

Twitter rejects Bungie’s inclusive initiative due to the “Latinx” post

15th September to 15th October marks National Hispanic Heritage Month in the US. Game company Bungie, who worked behind the biggest franchises in gaming history such as Halo, and Destiny 2, has taken steps to spotlight the Hispanic community with its latest idea. However, this took a turn for the worse.

On 2nd October, the game studio introduced "Latin@Bungie," an employee resource group aimed at fostering connections among its staff members who share similar cultural backgrounds. Nevertheless, the announcement generated significant backlash on Twitter, primarily centered around its choice of terminology.

“Being Latin/a/e/o/x is more than just a location on a map, just as being Hispanic is more than the language we might speak,” captioned the post.

Traditionally, the terms 'Latina' and 'Latino' have been employed to refer to females and males of Latin American descent, respectively. However, in recent times, the term 'Latinx' has gained traction online as a gender-neutral or nonbinary alternative. This term has stirred controversy, primarily because Spanish, the language of many Latin American countries, is gendered, with the suffix 'O' typically denoting male and 'A' representing female. Consequently, some individuals within the Latin community have expressed reservations about the use of 'Latinx,' finding it discordant with their linguistic and cultural traditions and, in some cases, considering it offensive.

Following the uproar surrounding its Twitter post, Bungie received backlash in the comments where it attempted to hide most of it in an effort to pacify the situation.

Some Twitter users began searching for comments that were set as hidden by Bungie as a way to poke fun at the game studio.

At the time of writing this article, Bungie has yet to officially address the backlash surrounding its post.