Not every country in the world uses the same phrases, have same names, or speaks the same language. Sometimes some words mean something different in a different region. For instance, in Mexican culture the word “kike” is a shorthand nickname for “Enrique”, pronounced “kee-kay”. Given that the people who currently run the PlayStation brand at Sony are racist against Japanese, it should come as no surprise that they are also racist against Mexicans, too.

A PlayStation Network user, Enrique Perez, explained to the gaming community a post on Reddit that was published November 21st, 2018 explaining how Sony permanently banned him from his account because his PSN user ID was “Kike_0615”. Perez used this name for over a year after he bought his PlayStation, but he was recently banned for having the name. He explained in the post that in his culture the word isn’t offensive, but in American culture and certain other regions around the world, the word is offensive, writing…

“My online ID is/was: Kike_0615. Kike is short for my real name, Enrique, and in Mexico a lot of people call guys with that name “Kike”. It is also pronounced “KEE-KAY”. After I did some research it’s apparently used as an offensive way of calling Jewish people. Sort of like the N word for my African Americans. Btw I’m really sorry if I offend anyone by posting my nickname, I swear to god that’s my nickname since I was little, I even have soccer and high school track/XC shirts/sweaters with my nickname.”

Instead of opening a line of communication with Perez or at least notifying him beforehand about the suspension, one of the support staff at PlayStation decided to permanently ban his PSN ID, complete with all his games on it, which equated to hundreds of dollars worth of titles. Much like when an Origin user lost thousands of dollars worth of digital games he purchased due to EA’s support incompetence, Perez was stuck in the exact same rut after Sony sent him the following message.

The message on Reddit managed to blow up, garnering tens of thousands of upvotes and thousands of responses from gamers who sympathized with Perez’s situation. After spending hours on the phone with Sony’s customer support – who repeatedly told him that there was nothing they could do until their new PSN ID name change service goes live months from now – the post kept going viral and multiple websites began reporting on Sony’s racist antics to deprive a gamer of his hard-earned digital games and his PSN privileges.

One site in particular, Alt/Char, pointed out that not only was this move racist but hypocritical, given that in Sony’s own developed and published game, MLB: The Show 18, it features baseball player Enrique “Kike” Hernandez from the LA Dodgers. There’s even video footage revealing that in the game Hernandez is depicted as “Kike” Hernandez. Check the time-stamp at 55 seconds into the video below from A2K TV.

https://youtu.be/YDr2LhYx_NQ?t=56

So not only is Sony racist and hypocritical, but they’re also ignorant of their own double-standard racism.

Thankfully, due to the Perez’s post going viral, Sony put a specialist in touch with Perez and managed to get his situation sorted. In an updated post made on November 23rd, 2018, Perez explained that a support team specialist explained to him…

“Hi Enrique, first off I’d like to apologize for everything. We caught wind and saw what you posted and said online. And I can assure you we got to work on it as soon as possible. We setup a quick meeting at the office and trust me, we had an interesting conversation, especially as it’s thanksgiving(he chuckles). But I’m glad to inform you your account is fully re-activated. I’d like to apologize in behalf of all of us. You can keep your current Online ID as we realized we made a mistake…”

The support team opted to restore Perez’s content and told him he could keep his games. In the post Perez acknowledged that he would be changing his name as soon as possible and told the support staff that he would be joining the PSN ID beta so he can get his PSN ID name changed immediately.

Perez also apologized to anyone he offended, writing…

“I understand everyone’s point of view were some people feel like I shouldn’t be forced to change my name just because it’s also a slur to certain people. And I understand everyone as I literately spent hours reading everyone’s comments. But I feel like now that I know that my nickname also stands for a racial slur it is my responsibility to address the issue and fix it. I love gaming, I love playing with people around the world, and I understand some people are a bit more sensitive than others. Like I stated before, I never intended to offend anyone with my nickname and I offer my sincere and deepest apologies for anyone I played with and I might’ve offended. We have to keep in mind that the PSN is a global thing and we have to at least take into small consideration of how other people feel. I look forward to changing my name. I’m most likely going to change it to a username based off my name and “0615” at the end. I’m thinking something along the lines of “Henry_0615”. I’m not really interested into changing it into any of the different way you spell my nickname as I’d like to avoid any future problems and offend anyone.”

This is the second time that Sony banning someone for a PSN user ID has gone viral. The company has yet to encourage consumer decorum when dealing with these issues, and it’s not likely going to be the last time given the company’s track record.

Time For Real Talk:

Dear Sony,

If you’re going to promote all this  bullcrap nonsense about respecting religions, cultures, and other races, the least that you can do is not be an ignorant piece of crap and  communicate with someone first before assuming the worst and banning them for a user ID spun out of your limited experience with other people from regions outside of San Francisco, or because your staff failed anthropology 101 and you decided to utilize your own ignorant shortcomings as a measuring stick for policing world cultures you don’t know diddly squat about.

Since Perez didn’t say it I’ll say it for him: screw you Sony for being racist pieces of crap. You want to ruin gaming with your sociopolitical censorship, you go right ahead and ruin as many games you want, we’ll all just stop buying those games so we can watch your financial well run dry. But going the next step by banning people without recourse because your high-horse-minded Liberal employees – who never completed a history class in their life – spend more time poring over recipes of pumpkin spice lattes with avocado toast while taking open-mouthed selfies instead of reading a book that isn’t Harry Potter, or learning how to communicate effectively, is both disgustingly anti-consumer and outright racist.

Just be glad Perez was nice enough not to sue you for being the culturally insensitive pricks that you are, because he had every right to do so. Hoping you go bankrupt is a fate too nice for the incompetent nitwits you’ve employed to carry out your cultural genocide of a hobby gamers absolutely adore. So in case it wasn’t made clear enough…

F*ck you, Sony.

(Thanks for the news tip GrandmasterShadow, and have a happy Thanksgiving everybody!)