Developer Who Called Borderlands Character Racist Is Now Out Of A Job [UPDATE]

This weekend, we reported that some players took umbrage with Tiny Tina, a character from Borderlands 2 and how she used “black lingo.” Gearbox was receptive to these players, listening to their concerns and even offering to change the character in future updates should they be convinced that Tina’s dialogue was racist.

https://lastchance.cc/borderlands-2s-writer-says-hell-change-tiny-tina-if-she-5981171%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E

Mike Sacco, a creative developer with the World of Warcraft trading card game, was one of the players involved in the dispute. Today, he tweeted that he no longer works at Cryptozoic, where he was previously a contractor.

https://twitter.com/embed/status/298592034325950466

The reasons why are not clear.

https://twitter.com/embed/status/298570916869332993

https://twitter.com/embed/status/298571209245872130

https://twitter.com/embed/status/298592126269263872

https://twitter.com/embed/status/298599104475435010

https://twitter.com/embed/status/298596415125479426

https://twitter.com/embed/status/298596950297681920

https://twitter.com/embed/status/298599632827731968

I reached out to Sacco for comment, but he said he cannot legally say anything on the matter. I’ve also contacted Cryptozoic, and will update this story if I hear back from them.

UPDATE: Cryptozoic responds as follows:

To clarify, Mike Sacco was never an employee of Cryptozoic Entertainment. He was a contractor.

We asked him not represent himself as an employee of Cryptozoic. After the message was delivered, Mike quit. We like Mike and we are as surprised by his reaction as you are.

UPDATE 2: Mike’s original tweet has been deleted, though you can still see what he said. He offers the following reason for the deletion:

https://twitter.com/embed/status/298605121003216898

UPDATE 3: Sacco on his contract:

https://twitter.com/embed/status/298616871769485312

https://twitter.com/embed/status/298616986424975361

https://twitter.com/embed/status/298617298607017984

Image Credit: The Crimson Hammer