Yep fairly simple. Regardless of what's fact no controversy trumps potential losses. Just because something is false doesn't mean it won't gain traction and impact sales. People don't care about nuance they go with whatever headline they see first and if that follows their preconceived notions good luck stopping that cascade

Protect from whom exactly? Nobody noticed the symbol. There was nobody calling Bungie racists. The few people in the world who might care would never have seen it (not that they have a valid reason to care). But now it's publicised in various international media that Destiny 2 included 'racist' material. All they achieved is to tarnish their own name.

Correction. YOU didn't notice the symbol. I noticed it, I just wasn't familiar with it and its meanings. Other people---who WERE familiar with its meanings----noticed it, or it wouldn't have been brought to Bungie's attention. Bottomline, is that Bungie is in the business of making videogames that have a broad appeal. There is NO upside for Bungie to needlessly court this kind of controversy, or needlessly offend paying customers. In short, This is not a hill that Bungie is interested in dying on, just to placate some fringe radicals....or immature self-appointed and self-important "satirists" of other people's legitimate life experiences. At the end of the day, Bungie has business partners and shareholders they are responsible for, and have to answer to....and leaving that symbol in the game would have been indefensible on a rational, business level.

[quote]some fringe radicals[/quote] Who? [quote]immature self-appointed and self-important "satirists"[/quote] Is it immature to be satirical? Also, all satirists are self appointed. Satirist isn't a job title. [quote]of other people's legitimate life experiences.[/quote] Legitimate might be a stretch.

Oh, the irony.....

If you want to be that semantically pedantic, of course I noticed the symbol. But it's not the symbol they say it looks like, so I didn't care. And if you were to actually look into what they say it is, if anything it's the opposite of a hate symbol. A group designed purely to mock racists doesn't sound too hateful to me. The only people saying the symbology is offensive also say an inanimate green frog who features in every kind of meme imaginable is a horrific racist. And, by the way, those same few people happen to make millions of dollars in profit/donations by declaring innocuous things as hateful. Literally not one person on Earth would be genuinely offended by it. This "smart business decision" is just more caving-in to unjust pressure from an elitist class who want to control everything. In fact, it would arguably be a better business decision to completely ignore any who might feign being offended; many people in the company's target audience would take note and respect Bungie for not cucking out.

1. I don't care where it comes from, or what it means. In 50 years of life I've seen enough mean-spirited action----and the excuses people come up with to rationalize it----for two lifetimes. Bullshit by any other name....smells the same. I just don't give a shit what it means, or what the narcissistic idiots who use it THINK it means. 2. Bungie doesn't give a shit either. They have a business to run, and courting this kind of controversy interfers with the business of making games and making money. Like I said, Not a hill that any RESPONSIBLE executive is the least bit interested in dying on. 3. The only "pressure" Bungie cares about is the bottom line. Who will spend their money...and who won't. ...and if there is a chance that this symbol will keep people from buying the game, its gone. Period...and any executive who didnt' make that same situation is laying the grounds for his removal by shareholders or his Board of Directors. Because the people with money to spend are much more likely to be offended by this....or by the attempt to defend it....than the time-rich-and-dollar-poor adolescents who want to flex their rebellious muscles and insist that it be kept in.

Genuine question because I honestly don't keep up with the memes and trends there so I'm clueless on this symbols relevance. It appeared that when Bungie announced that they were removing the symbol, that nobody had any idea what they were talking about. I looked everywhere and believe it took about an hour for someone to find the connection. So the question is, does Bungie lose more by announcing the symbol is there and they are removing it by potentially upsetting the anti-PC crowd causing them to leave or never buy Bungie again than they would have if they had left the symbol in and at some point, someone discovered it and that then caused people to get upset?

1/ Not sure how satirising racists ad absurdum makes one a narcissistic idiot but whatever - you can defend racism if that's what you really want to do. 2/ I do understand what you're saying about dropping this controversy ASAP, but my point this whole time has been that there never was nor would there ever be a controversy. Bungie themselves were the only ones to link their armour with "hate" symbols. Not one person with any interest in denouncing the connection noticed until Bungie announced it to them, and nor would they have ever noticed if Bungie hadn't. 3/ The thing about this pressure is that the media is becoming increasingly less influential, particularly within the video games industry. This is partly because of and also the reason for the continued flinging of accusations over things that are really non-issues. Businesses haven't caught up to the fact that keeping out of the spotlight is a wasted effort as the consequences of this type of controversy really don't affect sales. On the other hand, bending to the whimsical complaints of people pushing a certain social agenda has happened numerous times over the last few years and never works out well for those companies who do it; in some more serious cases you find many of the dedicated fans the company relies on for continuing revenue swearing off that company and boycotting all future products. In brief: Bungie here appeased the media rather than the players/potential buyers. They're seeing the pressure sources all wrong. The trouble is that those same shareholders and boardmembers you speak of are still thinking in the age of the old-media. The world's changing rapidly and they ought to keep up with it.

I have neither the time nor the patience to try to explain "dog whistle" and "plausible deniability ' to you. The bottom line is that this is not Bungie's fight...and they have NOTHING to gain and LOTS to potentially lose by MAKING it their fight. Taking it out can't hurt their bottomline, and might help it. Leaving it in can't help it, and might hurt it. Lastly the world isn't run by young people. Or their conceits.

I'm starting to think you're one of these old people who doesn't understand that the way the world world works is changing...

ROFLMAO. The arrogance of youth..... They always think they know everything...and that they invented everything of relevance. When what they actually know would barely fill a teacup. Child, I foresaw the world changing in the ways it is 20 years ago...and I likely have forgotten more about how the world works than you currently know.

The snowflakes that would be offended by this don't play the game !! They are offended by guns and stuff so I doubt they would be playing an FPS