In light of ongoing protests against systemic racism and police brutality, many developers are pledging to do better. For example, companies like Infinity Ward are working to ban racist names from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Most recently, Riot Games has confirmed that it stands with the protesters and laid out its plans to do better.
After initial statements on May 31 and June 2 expressing its support for the Black Lives Matter movement, Riot's president Dylan Jadeja addressed players in a letter on the company's website. In a follow-up to Riot's promise to use its Social Impact Fund to help relevant nonprofits, Jadeja committed $1 million to charities for racial justice and law enforcement reform. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Innocence Project will be the first organizations to receive these donations.
To further develop a diverse talent pool in gaming, the president also announced that Riot Games was entering "a new partnership" with Florida A&M to create a software development-focused curriculum. Alongside a new $50,000 scholarship through the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship fund for black students in game development, Jadeja renewed the company's investments in educational programs like Girls Who Code and Urban TxT.
Although these commitments follow through on Riot's previous promises to take action, players expressed their dissatisfaction with the developer. Specifically, Twitter responses criticized Riot's failure to moderate racist usernames and to address the Hong Kong protests against the Chinese government. While Riot's efforts to contribute to social justice are admirable, hopefully it will take the time to address in-game racism as well.