Injustice 2's mobile version is stirring up controversy due to an ongoing event meant to celebrate Pride Month, a time traditionally used to highlight LGBTQ characters and accomplishments. However, the mobile game instead has players beating up an LGBTQ character, a message many are finding contradictory to what Pride Month is supposed to represent. So far, the reaction has been overwhelmingly negative.
Over on Twitter, the Injustice 2 mobile account has been sharing progress updates on its Pride Month event, which tasks the community with defeating Poison Ivy in exchange for rewards at milestones. The latest update, posted on June 2, indicates that the challenge has been completed 175,000 times, with 225,000 more to go before players unlock the first reward tier. It's a fairly standard event, but it has a glaring problem: Poison Ivy is gay, canonically in a relationship with Harley Quinn in many of her depictions.
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It's no wonder why the event has upset members of the community. While companies highlighting and taking part in Pride Month is something to be celebrated, especially in an industry notorious for cultivating toxic environments, beating up an LGBTQ character is a mind-bogglingly bad way to approach it. It's unclear if this was a simple oversight or mistake, but it's certainly a bad look for Injustice all around.
Some of the responses to the milestone tweets have made fun of the situation, citing how painfully obvious it is that an event such as this one would go poorly. Others have been scathing, highlighting the incidents of harassment – and violence – that the LGBTQ community is forced to deal with regularly. All around, though, there seems to be a nearly unanimous agreement that this is a terrible idea.
The Injustice 2 mobile Twitter account hasn't responded to the controversy quite yet, and it's unclear if it intends to do so. It seems likely that the account will respond in some manner, simply due to how bad of a look that the event is. There are no guarantees, though, and it is a situation where the company may just remain silent, allowing the event to run its course or swapping in a different combatant for players to face off against.
It's a shaky start to June for the mobile game, and will likely leave a sour taste for some going forward. The Injustice games have garnered a following, though this hardly seems like a good way to cultivate a lasting audience.
Injustice 2 is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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