10 Biggest Gaming Controversies Of 2017 (So Far)
5. Horizon Zero Dawn Is Criticised For Cultural Appropriation
An otherwise universally revered title, this year's Horizon Zero Dawn came under fire from a Native American writer for the game's cultural appropriation and insensitive use of language that that has degrading and negative connotations.
In an essay for Medium, the writer called out not only Horizon's cultural appropriation of Native American culture but the prevalence of it more generally in the industry, damning the medium as a whole for perpetuating archaic and damaging cultural representations.
The developers responded by explaining that they never intended to cause any offence, and actually based the tribal culture of Horizon on multiple different groups from throughout history. The explanation didn't go down too well though, and they were again criticised for not taking ownership of the situation.