The season 4 originally planned for this week in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare & Warzone has been postponed due to the unrest in the USA. This has sparked a new discussion about a long-standing issue in the shooters: racist player names.
This is why the season was postponed: Due to the current situation in the USA, several planned events have already been postponed. This includes the release of season 4 in Call of Duty, as well as a PS5 reveal event and a Fortnite skin.
The organizers state regarding the postponements that this is not the time for such events and that other issues should be at the forefront. For example, it was mentioned in an official statement on the “Call of Duty” Twitter account:
— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) June 2, 2020
“While we are all looking forward to playing new seasons in Modern Warfare, Warzone, and Call of Duty: Mobile – now is not the time.
We are postponing the launches of Modern Warfare season 4 and season 7 of Call of Duty: Mobile to a later date.
Now is the time for those who stand for equality, justice, and change to be seen and heard.
We stand by your side.”
The United States is currently experiencing times of unrest, since on May 25, the 45-year-old African American George Floyd died during a police operation in Minneapolis.
Player names cause criticism
Here players see a problem: Following the postponement, a discussion arose in the CoD community regarding the issue of racist player names. The accusation: While the developers emphasize in their statement on the postponement that they want to focus attention on those standing for equality, players with racist names can be encountered in the game itself.
“In the last 7-8 months, people have had extremely offensive and racist usernames, and yet we haven’t heard anything substantial about their attempts to resolve this issue,” it says in a post on the discussion platform Reddit. (via reddit).
There is criticism that such names cannot be adequately reported via an in-game tool and that corresponding consequences like bans are not enforced. This is difficult for players to understand in part:
- “Seriously. It’s crazy to see some of the names that go through. At the same time, I couldn’t name my regiment ‘Naked Wookiees’ because of the word ‘naked’,” reports a user (via reddit).
- “If they want to make a difference, they need to ban all racist names,” explains another user (via reddit). He has no problem with them postponing the season; at the same time, however, the postponement seems strange “when players have been allowed to use names with the n-word and other racist slurs for months and nothing has been done about it.”
On the forum reddit, there are numerous posts displaying screenshots of “Call of Duty” players with vile racist names. These screenshots receive tens of thousands of upvotes.
Many players wish for a more consistent approach here – also in light of the current discussion. A large wave of bans occurred at the end of April – which, however, was primarily aimed at cheaters.
Meanwhile, the developers have also spoken up. They want to take a tougher stance against racism in the game and have already announced concrete measures. You can find more about this here: After criticism: CoD MW & Warzone want to combat racism in the game more harshly now
