There’s now a Black Lives Matter message whenever you boot up Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and before every game.
It doesn’t look like we’ve achieved racial equality and justice yet, but it does at least seem like this week of protests is accomplishing something. All four of the former officers involved in George Floyd’s death have been arrested and charged, while examples of police brutality against protestors are often being met with immediate termination.
And on top of that, Infinity Ward is committing themselves fully to the movement with a new message that appears at the start of every Call of Duty session.
A Black Lives Matter message now appears at the start of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and during loading screens before a game. “Our community is hurting,” the message begins. “The systemic inequalities our community experiences are once again center stage. Call of Duty and Infinity Ward stand for equality and inclusion. We stand against the racism and injustice our Black community endures. Until change happens and Black Lives Matter, we will never truly be the community we strive to be.”
While it might have taken some time for this message to appear in-game, it does take a while for game updates to make it through development, no matter how small. Infinity Ward also took more immediate action earlier this week by delaying the start of Season 4 indefinitely. “Right now it’s time for those speaking up for equality, justice, and change to be seen and heard,” the developer wrote on Twitter.
Infinity Ward isn’t just all words and no action, however. They’ve also promised to crack down on racism within Call of Duty, including increased monitoring of racist content, new reporting systems, added filters, greater restrictions on name changing, and an increase in perma bans for repeat offenders.
At this point, it seems like Call of Duty has taken the most concrete steps towards combating racism in its own backyard of any game developer out there. This is definitely one shining example of how gaming can be better and support the movement.
Source: Engadget, Reddit
