A tribute to George Floyd, and an image that headlined a post by former U.S. President Barack Obama.
A tribute to George Floyd, and an image that headlined a post by former U.S. President Barack Obama.
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Game companies speak out against racism and injustice, cancel their events

Game companies have begun speaking out against racism and injustice during the worst civic unrest in the United States in decades.

The protests erupted and spilled over into violence after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. White police officer Derek Chauvin held Floyd down with his knee on Floyd’s neck, as three other officers looked on. Protests grew into violence, arson, and looting in dozens of American cities in the ensuing days, from Santa Monica, California, to New York City. The game industry joined with others such as former U.S. President Barack Obama voicing their concerns on how to make this moment an opportunity to change society.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.