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EA Sports states that it won't "tolerate racism of any kind"

Firm outlines measures it is taking to cut out hate speech

EA Sports states that it won't "tolerate racism of any kind"

Publishing giant Electronic Arts' Sports label has said it will not put up with racism in its games.

In a post on Twitter, EA Sports admitted that there was more it could be doing to monitor hate speech within its games and remove those spouting it. The company said that it was looking at the list of words to make sure the filters can pick up hate speech in a number of "languages, dialects and slang." EA Sports is also adding in more options to report bad actors in its games, as well as increasing the frequency with which it reviews offenses to remove those behind them from its games faster.

"But we won't stop at these actions because we know we need to do better," the company wrote. "We will keep listening and continue to take steps that can make an impact in fighting bias, discrimination and injustice. We are also reviewing the policies and steps we can take across our entire portfolio of games and we will share more with you in the coming weeks."

This follows protests around the world following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Those protesting are voicing their anger at the treatment of black people and institutional racism as well as police brutality.

Industry support

Games companies from around the globe have shown support the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Electronic Arts, Team 17, Supercell and Square Enix were among the first to openly donate funds to fight back against racism. However, further donations have come from The Pokemon Company, Double Fine, House House and more.

On top of this, many firms have taken to social media to take a public stand in support of the campaign. Meanwhile, Sony, Activision, Epic Games and Electronic Arts have all delayed announcments and in-game content to allow those who need to speak up to have their voices heard.

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For the full story head over to PCGamesIndustry.biz.

Additional reporting by Kayleigh Partleton.


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.