The gaming industry is undergoing another Me Too movement, and this time seems to be different in a way that is generating positive change. Many studios and companies alike are internally investigating their own work culture with the latest being a statement from EA regarding recent sexual assault allegations.
The mega publisher took to their website to outline their own response to the mounting sexual assault allegations, saying “In recent days we’ve seen and heard a number of disturbing stories around sexual harassment, abuse and misconduct in our industry. We want to be very clear on our position: these behaviors are never ok — not in our communities or any others. Electronic Arts supports everyone that has come forward to report abuse and we are asking anyone who has experienced any kind of harassment or sexual misconduct in our community to come forward.”
The statement continues to state that they are taking each allegation seriously and are actively investigating each report as it comes in as part of their “deep commitment” to making sure people feel safe coming forward and eliminating the environment that breeds this sort of behavior to begin with.
The statement also continues to provide an avenue for people to report their own stories safely:
If you are an EA employee and encounter or have encountered harassment, violence or other misconduct, please raise it immediately with your manager or People Experience leader. If you are not comfortable doing that you can report anonymously through our Raise a Concern program. If you are not an employee of EA and have encountered harassment, violence or other misconduct by another player, member of our Game Changer community, Competitive Gaming Player or EA staff member, there are multiple reporting resources which can be found here.
This initiative includes all aspects of Electronic Arts, including rules already established in their Global Human Rights Statement, the EA Competitive Gaming Codes of Conduct, and their Positive Play Charter.
Related: Dying Light 2 Studio Releases Statement Regarding Chris Avellone Sexual Assault Allegations
Ubisoft is another large company that issued a public statement after shocking stories became public about executives at the studio and the failure of its HR department to take reported instances seriously. This is not the first “Me Too” movement the gaming industry as had, but it looks like the issue is mounting to a level that companies can no longer ignore.
Thoughts on EA’s statement? Any personal contributions to this movement that you’d like to shed light on? Please join in on the conversation over on Twitter @PrimaGames.
