Apex Legends remove racial slur voice line between characters

There are 14 Legends in Respawn Entertainment and thousands of lines of dialogue between them but one has proved problematic after players highlighted that it was, in fact, a racial slur.

The line in question is said by Crypto, with the scientist calling Caustic a "dirty rat".

Unbeknownst to the writers of Apex Legends, "rat" has been a slur directed at Asians since World War II.

Unfortunately, Crypto, whose real name is Tae Joon Park, is Asian.

A voice line directed at Crypto (pictured) has criticized for being racist. (Picture: Respawn Entertainment)

Tom Casiello, a writer on Apex Legends, apologized for any offence caused, explaining that a lot of work goes into making sure situations like this don't happen but this one slipped through.

When we write lines like this, we run them past people from the community. Coworkers. Friends. The lines didn't set off alarms at the time,but just because a handful of people weren't familiar with the slur, doesn't mean... (1/2) https://t.co/9r6tY1YNEg

— Tom Casiello (@tommiecas) August 18, 2020

Casiello also stated they had begun work to remedy the situation, which has now been achieved with the latest update removing the line from the game.

However, some players were unhappy with the decision claiming the developers were kowtowing to "outrage" or "cancel culture" something which Tom Casiello rejected outright.

"NOBODY'S getting 'watered down'. Do you have so little faith in us as writers you think we can't come up with a better insult than a rodent?! He'll call him a dung beetle or a maggot or a cockroach," Casiello fired back in a tweet.

Oh, for the love of— Look. Last thing I’ll say on the subject. But NOBODY’S getting “watered down”. Do you have so little faith in us as writers you think we can’t come up with a better insult than a rodent?! He’ll call him a dung beetle or a maggot or a cockroach, or... (1/2) https://t.co/ORfqKkl9vH

— Tom Casiello (@tommiecas) September 3, 2020

"Or a dozen other things that didn’t double as slurs. I know you’re all trained on a lifetime of MSNBC vs FOX, and it’s 'pick a side' but all I give a damn about is if it changes the story or character."

You tell 'em Tom.

• Read more: Lululuvely considers quitting Apex Legends for good due to game's toxic community

Other than the removal of the voice line the update, the first since the release of Season 6, reverted some of the changes that were brought in to armour, as well as a number of bug fixes.