Blizzard Entertainment president Mike Morhaime has apologised to those offended by homophobic comments made in a video shown on the closing night of last weekend's Blizzcon festival.
Morhaime said in a letter to GayGamer: "As president of Blizzard, I take full responsibility for everything that occurs at Blizzcon. It was shortsighted and insensitive to use the video at all, even in censored form.
"The language used in the original version, including the use of slurs and sexual orientation as an insult, is not acceptable, period.
"We realise now that having even an edited version at the show was counter to the standards we try to maintain in our forums and in our games," he added. "Doing so was an error in judgement, and we regret it.
"The bottom line is we deeply apologise for our mistakes and for hurting or offending anyone. We want you to have fun at our events, and we want everyone to feel welcome. We're proud to be part of a huge and diverse community, and I am proud that so many aspects of the community are represented within Blizzard itself.
"As a leader of Blizzard, and a member of the band, I truly hope you will accept my humblest apology."
Blizzard used BlizzCon to announce the fourth expansion for World of Warcraft, Mists of Pandaria.
Comments
42 comments so far...
BOYD1981 on 28 Oct '11 said:
It's absolutely pathetic that someone would have to apologise for homophobic comments made in jest.
ffcoppolla on 28 Oct '11 said:
They should only apologise when they're said seriously?
StonecoldMC on 28 Oct '11 said:
W!? T!? F!?
http://cdn.styleforum.net/4/4a/4ad90b08_Not-sure-if-serious2.jpeg
STEVONYMO on 28 Oct '11 said:
Get a grip your not normal end of!
ffcoppolla on 28 Oct '11 said:
Define 'normal'.
gmcb007 on 28 Oct '11 said:
Hmm this reminds me of the these pricks ruining some gaming media awards:
http://jamsponge.tumblr.com/post/119883 ... hats-a-pun
StonecoldMC on 28 Oct '11 said:
I reckon there could be a few Warnings and Bannings in this thread.
Were all Gamers here, dont care what skin colour, religion or orientation you are. Respect that or prepare to leave.
BOYD1981 on 28 Oct '11 said:
The intention is quite different when something is said seriously to as when it is said in a humourous context, I bet half the people who read my first comment and thought "wtf?" have called at least one of their friends gay or referred to something as being gay (I'm guessing that perhaps the word being apologised for isn't actually "gay" but it's the same in principal).
And I bet you if the comment in the clip had been about fat people there would have been no apology made, probably wouldn't have even been any complaints.
And I can bet you if the contents of this article and comments were different that last sentence would have in itself got a few comments that were just fat jokes.
I just believe trying to stop people saying what they want to say, whether seriously or not, is just as bad as saying it.
I'd actually like a few of the gay members of this site to comment about whether or not they find homophobic jokes offensive or not.
ffcoppolla on 28 Oct '11 said:
It's a bit different when those homophobic comments are made by someone representing a large multinational company at a highly publicised event.
Tivan on 28 Oct '11 said:
Can we keep the comments clean please guys. As StonecoldMC said, we're all gamers, no matter our sexual orientation.
ffcoppolla on 28 Oct '11 said:
Look on the bright side: at least rbt is on holiday.
basscadet on 28 Oct '11 said:
If they used the 'N' word or something similar we wouldnt have imbeciles commenting that it was ok.
There is NO difference.
I'd hate to be a gay member of staff at Blizzard. Imagine working there if the top brass think its acceptable to put out this kind of s**t?!
You just know a company like Valve wouldnt pull a stunt like this.
Shame on you Blizzard. Youre sad and Pathetic clueless assholes.
FU*K YOU MIKE MORHAIME!
ffcoppolla on 28 Oct '11 said:
The head of Blizzard took full responsibility and apologised. Did you not read the article?
martinawatson on 28 Oct '11 said:
"We realise now that having even an edited version at the show was counter to the standards we try to maintain in our forums and in our games," he added. "Doing so was an error in judgement, and we regret it.
"The bottom line is...........
bottom line...sounds a bit ...you know,,err cmon mate , i thought you were trying to apologise
basscadet on 28 Oct '11 said:
Hey Boyd,
As a gay member of the site I can tell you I like ANY good joke. Gay, racist, sexist etc. I'm very 'un pc' and come from the school of Chris Morris humour (Hes a total hero). We're lucky in this country that we enjoy the freedom of speech and expression (mostly). And I'm very much against peoples freedom of speech and expression being curtailed in any way, shape or form.
However this issue is one of context.
If I call my best mate a smelly hetero P*ki and he calls me a fat paddy queer (as we often do) neither of us are offended because were mates and we love and respect each other. Its said in jest and in good nature. Its just our banter.
Am I actually racist and heterophobic and is he really racist and homophobic? NO
Does that make it ok for people who dont know us to shout it at us in the street? NO
Yes its a rubbish analogy but I hope you can see where I'm coming from.
StonecoldMC on 28 Oct '11 said:
zombiesinmyhead on 28 Oct '11 said:
Well there you go, folks. STEVONYMO, answering life's big questions exclusively on CVG.
He just doesn't answer them correctly, sadly.
bennyboi1979 on 28 Oct '11 said:
were here were qu33r we take it up the rear!!
Look 99.9% of gays wouldnt give a sh1t about this and i am one of them.
PC brigade on the march again i see..... what ever happened to good old british humour?
MrPirtniw on 28 Oct '11 said:
He's just being a big silly goose!
basscadet on 28 Oct '11 said:
This made me p**s myself
davo_301 on 28 Oct '11 said:
I’m sorry but no it’s not the same principal there is a difference between (IMHO a poor) joke between friends and a large PR event, I mean it is not socially acceptable to make homophobic/ racist/ sexist comments to strangers in public like this event. I mean as a gamer I was offended whenever I hear the old gamer make our kids violent/ anti-social etc.
Yes I do, I clicked back through the links to find out what he was saying and yes I was offended the language was dehumanising and when a LGBT teen is four time more likely to commit suicide then straight teens (http://gaylife.about.com/od/gayteens/a/gaysuicide.htm) I would be carful of dismissing it as "just a joke".
only_777 on 28 Oct '11 said:
Yes, a joke is a joke. If there is no real hate behind something then it's a joke and not a hate speech. You can't draw a line with comedy. You can't say it's ok to take the p**s out of the French and not Pakistanis is an example, but the rule either it's all ok or nothing is ok. Because when you draw a line, that is racists or sexist or homophobic.
The PC people that can't get their heads around this do my f**king head in.
zombiesinmyhead on 28 Oct '11 said:
Its not really quite as straight forward as all that. I'm not a fan of political correctness, I could point out a couple of crippling flaws it has, but you kids need to figure them out for yourselves. I'm a young white heterosexual male, but any kind of intolerance or predjudice gets right on my tits. It makes me angry and intolerant, as it turns out. People can makes jokes about being gay, but as soon as those jokes become an invitation for intolerance, thats when it needs to stop, and thats why you need to be careful about it.
And as for the French analogy, well, as recently as the sixties it was illegal to be homosexual in this country. I don't think its ever been illegal to be French.
StonecoldMC on 28 Oct '11 said:
This is not about political correctness gone mad.
This is about having a genuine respect for each other, hence the reason the CEO of Blizzard has made a grovelling apology.
Whats so hard to comprehend here
?
ricflair on 28 Oct '11 said:
CONTEXT.
StonecoldMC on 28 Oct '11 said:
Thanks Ric. We have a Winner
!
Imaduck on 28 Oct '11 said:
Bah, I think it's daft that they should have to apologise for something said in jest and mockery of the way some people behave online. It wasn't f**king "homophobia" either. At no time did they display a fear of homosexuality, it just wasn't entirely poillitically correct. We really need to lighten up these days
Drusus on 28 Oct '11 said:
Its easy to say lighten up when you're on the other side. Besides said in jest or not it's never a good idea for a large company who are selling a game with a community of people from every background to allow someone to talk for them in a manner that alienates even a small group.
It was a silly video clip that could've easily been avoided and when you get down to it this guy stated some frankly barmy things in the name of making out he's an uber leet pro player, it's silly to begin with.
Blizzcon prides itself in opening its doors to everyone, whether in jest or not it's out of place at a family event and bleeping it was not sufficient. Any other place and it'd be lighten up for sure but at an event that welcomes kids its not needed, besides the band were terrible and Corpse haven't ever been relevant.
So lets go listen to some Mastodon and forget this whole thing happened.
only_777 on 28 Oct '11 said:
I'm not comparing being French to being gay, I'm saying that once you draw a line then you have a problem. Every joke is ok, so long as that's all it is, a joke.
As Rik said, it's all about CONTEXT, and jokes about blacks, gays, jews...hell anything, it's all ok so long as it's a joke and not a hate speech.
Because when you draw the line, that's when you are saying 'well it's ok the take the p**s out of them, but not that other group', and THAT is wrong.
The line is wrong, not the joke.
ffcoppolla on 28 Oct '11 said:
It was at Blizzcon, though. Which is a hugely publicised event held by one of the largest publishing companies in the industry. You're honestly saying their CEO should have said "It was only a joke"?
Imaduck on 28 Oct '11 said:
I don't see why being a big name should make it any different, they're only human. I'd rather they said what they meant rather than be the usual fake corporate assholes. The world is full of all different kinds, and we don't all agree on the same things. The beauty is that we don't have to .... we're allowed to be ourselves, every one of us. Having kids there also doesn't change anything, kids use the word "gay" etc. more than anyone else.
Why censor yourself because it's the politically correct thing to do at "x" event with "x" company? The world would be a hell of a lot better if everyone spoke their minds, then we'd at least know where we stood and have less hate festering in silence.
basscadet on 28 Oct '11 said:
I said "nig*ers cause so much crime and smell'" today during a staff meeting. Is that ok? Whats the difference?
Imaduck on 28 Oct '11 said:
Whatever you want man. Don't expect everyone to like it either though. Whether their views matter to you or not is a question for you alone. Honesty above all as far as I'm concerned.
only_777 on 28 Oct '11 said:
I don't think it should even have to be said, if people don't understand what real comedy is, if they can't understand what is a joke and what is a hate speech then explaining to the lowest common denomotator what is a joke and what is homophobic then it'll fall on deaf ears.
ffcoppolla on 28 Oct '11 said:
It seems the Blizzard boss disagrees with you. It seems you think anything can be said as a "joke" and that makes it okay. Thankfully, the real world doesn't work like that.
only_777 on 28 Oct '11 said:
Everyone is untitled to an opinion, that doesn't make you right though. I'm not right, and nor are you, but at least I have my own reason to say what I do, rather than say 'well someone said this, so I'll side with them'. I'm sure your limited understanding would hold up with many, but then again, the intellect among us are but few.
It's funny how that you are the racists, the homophobic s and the slanders, but you don't see it.
Imaduck on 28 Oct '11 said:
I'm going to stand by 777 here and agree with him. Crude humour is ... crude. Black humour is black.
The whole idea is to say things that are "wrong" or not socially acceptable. What makes people laugh so hard at a lot of those sort of jokes is that on top of the normal sort of humour, it's very liberating to all involved because we frankly live in a world that (these days) loves to announce how accepting of "all" it is, but is actually only accepting of what has entered society's "acceptable" list. It's total hypocrisy, and most of us live it every single f**king day. You know where that road leads? To outbursts of intense surpressed hate, true prejudice, persecution etc. It isn't good, in case you didn't get the idea 
We'll never get anywhere if everyone pretends to agree with each other on everything.
Remember that saying "the truth sets you free"? It really does.
Yellow6 on 29 Oct '11 said:
Wrong.
It has never been illegal to "be" homosexual in the UK.
It has only been illegal to "perform" homosexual acts.
Interestingly it has never been illegal to be or perform as a lesbian, in the UK, discrimination against men?
Maybe this is something that should be addressed.
Imaduck on 29 Oct '11 said:
Yeah lets all hug and bash the froggies instead, works for me !
How do you "perform as a lesbian" yellow?!
"Our next performers, lesbians! To perform the secret lesbian dance thing!"
Yellow6 on 29 Oct '11 said:
You haven't lived until you've seen a lesbian performance.
The Bossman on 29 Oct '11 said:
'Corpseeater?' Well that's a new one, thought his nickname was 'corpseGRINDER'. FAIL AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Fis ... usician%29
LisVender on 30 Oct '11 said:
People who use the word "gay" (or "ghey," as it were) as an insult are one of the reasons I don't play World of Warcraft. And I'm not even gay! I play video games to get away from morons, not to be reminded of them.