The mass protests erupting in the United States in response to the police killing of George Floyd have led to support from some unlikely allies. Several gaming companies have released statements supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and Black communities.
Sony, known for producing the PlayStation video game consoles expressed its support for Black Lives Matter and the protests in this tweet on June 1: . The company subsequently cancelled an online reveal of an upcoming console out of respect for .
Activision Blizzard, which is well-known for producing the popular Call of Duty and Warcraft franchises also expressed its support for the protest movement in a series of
Microsoft also expressed support for the movement. CEO Satya Nadella tweeted: 鈥淭here is no place for hate and racism in our society. Empathy and shared understanding are a start, but we must do more ... 鈥 and used the opportunity to amplify the voices of the corporation鈥檚 , which have featured on the official company Twitter page for the past week.
By comparison, Nintendo, another major video game company has been silent, while one of their major properties Pokemon tweeted out a 鈥渢one-deaf鈥 image of two characters performing a 鈥渇ist bump鈥 to promote
Predictability, these companies have also faced a backlash for taking a political stance publicly with right-wing talking points such as 鈥淎ll Lives Matter鈥 and 鈥淚t鈥檚 not the place for video game companies to speak up about politics鈥. This is unsurprising,
On the other hand, many commentators have responded by pointing out the apparent hypocrisy of some of these corporations giving at best only tokenistic support to the cause and their consistent record of exploitation and profit at any cost.
The likes of Microsoft are well-known for their anti-competitive practices and exploitative use of labour alongside their track record of outright corporate tax avoidance. While they have made attempts to diversify their workplaces and are publicly quite forward about it, questions are still raised about the inequality of their .
At the same time Activision Blizzard has a poor track record of supporting unpopular social movements when it directly impacts their bottom line. The company banned a player known as Ng Wai Chung from one of its video games, Hearthstone, for Chung was banned from participating in competitions and had to forfeit any prize money he earned. Activision Blizzard are also known for a and have a have a track record of laying off employees, even as
A subsidiary of Sony - video game developer Naughty Dog - also expressed support for the Black Lives Matter protests. However, this developer is also known for the labour practice - common in the industry - known as , where workers are forced to work overtime to meet deadlines. In Naughty Dog鈥檚 case, this resulted in the hospitalisation of one of their
For many of these companies, speaking out on social issues is often a calculated decision, especially where they have a interest in aligning their values with what they suspect their customer base supports, in order to build
If anything, the fact that a number of these major gaming companies have spoken out is a testament to the strength of the mass movement developing in response to police brutality in the US, rather than to any inherent goodness of the companies themselves.
These companies are not our friends in the struggle, and only exist to produce profit -- off the backs of their workers and consumers.
If there was no mass movement, these companies would either be silent or actively complicit.
On the positive side, Game Workers Unite, an international grassroots organisation of game workers organising in trade unions has spoken out in support of the movement and - in certain branches 鈥 are actively attempting to