Rockstar Games has just come out with a major announcement: Red Dead Online and GTA Online will be closed for two hours today, from 2 pm ET to 4 pm ET. This decision has been taken in order to honor the legacy of George Floyd, the African American man that was killed on May 25 by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. This incident sparked ongoing protests against police violence and racism happening inside the US, but also all over the world.
Rockstar has sent a message to its fans, encouraging them to support organizations fighting for civil rights support, such as the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Equal Justice Initiative, and the National Black Child Development Institute. This encouragement came through the Charity Navigator website.
Kotaku has declared that other Take-Two games will go offline in order to show support for the Black Lives Matter cause. Some of the games that are currently scheduled to go offline include Dragon City, NBA 2K, and Monster Legends.
Taking their games online for a few hours on a Thursday afternoon is just a gesture. When it comes to material support, however, game companies do not fall behind. 2K Games has just announced yesterday that they are increasing funding towards its 2K Foundations program with another 1 million USD. The company has also declared that they are taking seriously and even expanding their mission to assist the fight against racial injustice and inequalities within black communities found all across the globe. Back in 2018, 2K launched a program in partnership with Microsoft in order to support underserved communities found all across the US.
2K Games are not the only publishers to make donations to Black Lives Matter. Other supporting companies include Ubisoft, Devolver Digital, Humble Bundle, Electronic Arts, Games Done Quick, and the well-known Itch.io.