Sega changes the name of the new PSO2 Genesis to something less racist

A non-player character in Sega MMO Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis underwent a name change with scheduled maintenance for this week. The black and brown member of the CAST robotic race formerly known as the “Diggah” will now be known as the “Excator”.

First brought to our attention by Joe “Kongablooey” Negron on Twitter, Diggah was originally the name of a non-player character in the recent Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis responsible for distributing mining missions to players. It introduces players to Dualomite, a rare purple mineral used to upgrade gear in massively multiplayer online gaming.

The name Diggah is not inherently offensive, but it is one letter away from a very bad word. It is doubtful that the name was intended to be offensive, as it is essentially the English version of the character’s original Japanese name, Dighoru (essentially Digger). However, combined with the relatively unique coloring of CAST and the fact that it asks players to find Dualomite, which looks a lot like 70s blaxploitation comedy Dolemite, it’s easy to see how the name could be considered damn offensive.

In one article on name change on the Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis Reddit Group, some players lament the name change, while others wonder why it was necessary in the first place.

The name change came quietly with this week’s patch, listed in patch notes such as “Corrected NPC names that were deemed inappropriate as character names.” So far, it looks like Diggah is the only name that has been changed. We’ve reached out to Sega for feedback on the name swap, but have yet to hear back.

Thanks again to Kongablooey on Twitter for bringing this story to our attention. He took us a long time, but we got down to it.