Gay slur in Scrabble DS

Ubisoft has apologised to its customers after one of them found the word "lesbo" used in an anagram bit of Junior Scrabble 2007 on the DS.

The incident was breathlessly reported by the Belfast Telegraph, complete with a rebuttal from a Gay Rights Association spokesman who claimed "the young men who design these games are not taught by schools that these words can be used as a form of homophobic bullying".

However, Ubisoft argued its corner by pointing out that the game used a word list based on Chambers Official Scrabble Dictionary. "'Lesbo' is not considered as offensive by the official dictionary and therefore is playable in both [adult and junior editions of Scrabble DS]," the publisher explained.

Nevertheless, it said it was "sorry" for any "concern" caused by the word's inclusion, having had no intention of upsetting anybody.

It's not the first time this year that Ubisoft has come under fire in this manner, having already had to recall DS title Mind Quiz in June when it emerged that players' failures were sometimes derided using a term that is offensive to people with disabilities.

At the time the French publisher said it had not spotted the offending word, put in place by the Japanese development team, during routine quality assurance.