Though the video game industry has been waiting to see the PlayStation 5 for some time, Sony delayed the PS5 reveal event scheduled for June 4 in order to "stand back and allow more important voices to be heard" as cities across the United States especially are experiencing protests and demonstrations following the deaths of George Floyd and others at the hands of police officers. The announcement put out by the PlayStation Twitter account yesterday has already become the most-liked gaming-related Tweet of all time.
When the fact was pointed out by ArmGunar on the Resetera forums this morning, the PS5 event delay tweet had over 470,000 likes — beating out its runner-up, Nintendo of America announcing Reggie Fils-Amie's retirement, by over 100,000. Since then the PlayStation Tweet has grown in scope, having over 530,000 likes, 118,000 retweets and nearly 18,000 comments as of this writing.
There is no indication when the new event will take place, though rumors have speculated that the PS5 will be revealed on June 12. No official announcement has been made, however. Many have praised Sony's decision to respect the current Black Lives Matter movement that has resulted in at least a week of protests across the country and with them, outcomes like former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin being charged with murder and manslaughter in the George Floyd case according to the Star Tribune.
Sony is not the only company that has put out messages of solidarity or outrage in the wake of this and other high-profile police brutality cases across the United States. For instance, Nickelodeon went off the air for almost nine minutes yesterday to share a message in support of the movement, however, few others have had the reach of the PS5 reveal delay in gaming and popular culture circles.
The Resetera thread outlines three other most-liked gaming-related tweets of all time outside of the PS5 delay and Reggie Fils-Amie's retirement. Just underneath them are a Japanese Nintendo post featuring Animal Crossing: New Horizons musicians playing the theme song, the reveal of the PS5 DualSense controller, and the reveal for 2019's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
Though it is currently unclear when Sony will come back to unveil the PS5, the fact that its show of support for an important social movement has garnered so much attention is undoubtedly a good thing. With protests still ongoing, there are plenty of ways for individuals to also show support such as donating to various causes paying for protestors' bails or supporting affected businesses.
Source: Resetera, Star Tribune