Bungie shares statement on terrorist attack, says it won't be muzzled by Sony
Danielle Partis
News Editor
Wednesday 18th May 2022
Bungie
Bungie has issued a statement following a terrorist attack that took place in Buffalo, New York last week.
On May 14, a man killed 10 people in a mass shooting, which was later reported as a racially-motivated hate crime by The BBC.
"Far too often, these racist attacks begin within online communities that are used to recruit and radicalise individuals," the group behind employee initiative Black at Bungie said. "It is time we begin to examine our practices and see what part we can play in preventing these tragedies."
The group intends to partner with Bungie's player support and community teams to maintain safe and anti-racist spaces across its games.
"We hope our colleagues in game development and gaming communities continue to examine their own platforms and invest in practices to combat bigotry in all its manifestations," the statement continued. "We believe games and their communities should be a force for good and we are committed to that."
Bungie has released a new pin to raise funds for the Southern Poverty Law Center, a charity that monitors hate crime in the US. All proceeds from sales of the badge will be donated to the organisation for at least one year.
It also shared a link to a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for those affected by the shooting.
Bungie's statement follows alleged instruction from Sony that forbids studios under it from publicly commenting on reproductive rights. In a recent tweet, a Bungie senior community manager responded to concerns about the studio's ability to comment on issues following the report.
"I admit I'm just a CM in the grand scheme, but I'm confident in the following: We are, and will continue to be Bungie," the employee
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