Anyone following the buzz around E3 this year would have likely come across a list of words supposedly banned from the event. As discovered by a ResetEra user, a JavaScript file listed random words and phrases that couldn’t be used in any of the events chat features.
Seemingly nonsensical, the list quickly gained traction online. Words that apparently wouldn’t be tolerated at the event included “Canada” and “Canadian”. Anything with religious connotations was also included, such as “omg”, “Allah” and “Jew”. Some just didn’t seem to have any reason for being there, such as the phrase “woman rapping”.
However, Canadian gamers can finally rest easy - your country isn’t banned from E3. According to the ESA, the list was just used for testing banned word filters, and will not be used this weekend.
Speaking to gameindustry.biz, a spokesperson said, "The team working on the E3 portal used a sampling of words that came from a third party software company only for the purpose of functionality testing on the portal”. They went on to elaborate that the final list has been curated, and does not include what we saw in this leak.
Testing such features is likely to come in handy this weekend, as the ESA is hosting its first completely virtual E3. This undertaking has included setting up companies with virtual booths and hooking up players with game demos as they’d expect in person. Of course, this means the main attraction is all virtual too - the conferences. The usual suspects are here, from Nintendo, Sega, Bethesda, Square Enix and many more. Sony is again opting to not attend.
Despite some hick-ups with the media week, the ESA sounds pleased with how the virtual E3 is going so far. Yesterday, CEO Stanley Pierre-Louis said that E3 2022 could be a hybrid physical/virtual event, in an effort to get as many fans and members of the media involved as possible.
However, even with the list of banned words being revised, E3 has had no shortage of slip-ups. The media portal listed every user as using he/him pronouns, regardless of gender identity. This has since been amended.
For those following the showcase season, you can start with Summer Game Fest today at 11 am PT/7 pm BST.