The developers of Injustice 2 Mobile have an intriguing way of celebrating Pride month as it tasks its players with beating up one of its most famous bisexual characters [via Kotaku].
The Pride Month challenge asks that players defeat Poison Ivy a cumulative 500,000 times to earn a top tier reward. With Pride intended to be a celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, many fans wonder why it had to be Ivy on the receiving end of the violence.
Canonically, Poison Ivy is a long-running member of the LGBTQ+ community with both male and female relationships running back to the early ’90s. She’s commonly depicted in a relationship with Harley Quinn, most recently in the Harley Quinn animated series on HBO Max.
The challenge comes across as especially tone-deaf given that the developer has changed its Twitter profile picture to include the Pride flag.
The Injustice 2 Mobile developer has since apologised for its Pride celebration
After receiving criticism, the developer has removed the tweet which celebrated the global challenge. It has also released a statement apologising for its insensitivity.
The statement reads:
“We recognize associating our latest Global Challenge with pride was insensitive and inappropriate. Real life violence against the LGBTQIA+ community and women within that community in particular is all too common and we should actively engage in efforts to end LGBTQIA+ violence, not normalize it. We apologise to the greater community, but especially LGBTQIA+ members. We are committed to listening and doing better.”
While the developer has since apologised for the challenge, it remains active in the Injustice 2 Mobile app. According to Kotaku, the community is about halfway to achieve the first global milestone.
Other game studios have demonstrated much better support of the LGBTQ+ community during Pride. Respawn Entertainment has added the Progressive Pride Flag to Apex Legends and continues to add active LGBTQ+ characters to its roster of heroes.
What do you make of the Injustice 2 Pride celebration? Let us know across our social channels.
[Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros]
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