Infinity War has added a message about Black Lives Matter and racism in its Call of Duty community to Modern Warfare and Warzone, in a new update following the ongoing nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd and police brutality.
When players start either game after installing the update they’ll encounter a message saying that Infinity Ward and Call of Duty “stand against the racism and injustice our Black community endures.”
There’s also a separate message about actions the studio is taking to deal with the racist content that appears in its game. Modern Warfare allows players to create custom gamertags in which racist terms and slurs have been known to appear, to say nothing of the racist stuff players might say over the game’s mic’d party chat.
On Wednesday, Infinity Ward announced it would devote more resources to monitoring racist content in the game, filtering it out, and punishing players responsible for it. The rough outline for those efforts, many of which players thought Infinity War should have already been doing, is now also included in the game.
Activision has also delayed Modern Warfare’s latest season of content, originally set to go live this week, saying “now is not the time.” While some other video game companies have announced donations to Black Lives Matter and other organizations fighting for racial justice, Activision hasn’t yet. Last month the company made a $2 million donation to its Call of Duty Endowment, which works to help military veterans find jobs. Activision’s CEO, Bobby Kotick, has received nearly $100 million in stock options over the last four years.
Activision did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Update, 6/11/20, 1:12 p.m. ET: A spokesperson for Activision directed Kotaku to the following statement on Twitter today announcing a goal of raising $4 million for the United Negro College Fund, the Equal Justice Initiative, and Management Leadership for Tomorrow through combined contributions from Activision Blizzard, its CEO, and its employees:
Looking for ways to advocate for black lives? Check out this list of resources by our sister site Lifehacker for ways to get involved.