Following the horrific events that took place on Tuesday night in Atlanta Georgia, game companies across the industry have begun to show their support for the AAPI communities.
Robert Aaron Long, 21, took the life of 8 eight people on Tuesday night. Seven of them being women, and six of Asian descent. Long targeted his victims at three Atlanta spas he “frequented”, according to business reports to investigators. Long admitted to the murders and told officers he had a sex addiction. He also revealed the reason for his killing spree — they were a “temptation he wanted to eliminate”. Stop AAPI Hate, a group formed in 2019 to track incidents of hate crimes directed at the Asian community, reported 3795 anti-Asian hate incidents between March 19, 2020 — shortly after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic — and February 28, 2021. Over 500 of these incidents were recorded in 2021.
The game industry has recently become more vocal about supporting communities in need. Following the murders game companies across the industry showed their support by speaking out against the Asian Hate. Bandai Namco, being one of the first companies to speak out, wrote on the Official US Twitter page that “As a company based in Japan, the recent rise in anti-Asian hate has truly hit home for our employees. We always appreciate support from our fans and we now ask for your support to #StopAsianHate and fight the rise in hate crimes committed against people of Asian descent.” The company, like many others, continued by sharing resources for how people can help and educate themselves about the issues.
Bungie, a company that often puts its money where its mouth is, committed by making a donation to “provide support and advocacy to those in need.” Bungie continues by sharing a link to the origination they chose to support, API Women and #ImReadyMovement. The organization raises visibility around self-identified AAPI women and their experiences with #MeToo, racial discrimination, war, immigration, and more.
It’s not just game companies that have been showing support to the AAPI community. Streamers have also been coming out to raise money too. The wonderful folks over at UpperCut raised just shy of $3200 for @StopAAPIHate. UpperCut writes, “Big or small, your contribution matters! Together we can accomplish change, so let’s keep this energy going to dismantle white supremacy and invest back into communities.”
If you’d like to find ways to help AAPI and #StopAsianHate you can find more information including ways to support here.
