Update: EA employees have called off the walkout as EA management has reportedly informed employees that it will not be using Pride-themed logos this month on any of its social media platforms. Original story below.
Electronic Arts staffers are threatening to walk out on Friday unless the publisher takes substantial action in support of Pride and the LGBTQIA+ community. This comes just one week after EA said it would make no statements regarding a woman’s right to choose following the leaked Supreme Court draft overturning Roe v. Wade.
In an internal Slack group chat obtained by GamesIndustry.biz, EA employees lamented the lack of a company-wide statement supporting Pride Month, which just started today.
"If we see the company rainbow-wash their logo without making any substantive statement in support of trans people being abused nationwide in the US and elsewhere, especially after stating that the company doesn't want to make any statement not supported by the diverse viewpoints of our 13,000 employees," the message read, "we collectively walk out on Friday, June 3rd. Just slapping a rainbow on our logo in June without any broader action will be unacceptable."
EA has since posted a Pride blog update, noting its Positive Play Charter against gender and orientation-based harassment and the Texas Competes Pledge supporting trans athletes. The post also noted last year’s "It Gets Better" employee video.
GamesIndustry.biz also reported that EA’s social teams received guidelines for Pride Month shortly after the Slack group threatened a walkout. The guidelines said that all shared messages and images "may not be political in nature" and must be submitted to EA’s corporation communications team for review. The guidelines "strongly" recommended sharing activities and retweeting social media posts supporting LGBTQIA+ and trans rights, "providing it is authentic to your community and the brand."
One EA employee called the guidelines "haphazardly put together in an attempt to prevent the walkout."
EA's Pride celebration does seem rather muted compared to Xbox's, which kicked off with a free game giveaway and will continue with free Pride cosmetics in Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite. It's also making a Pride-themed Xbox controller that stitches together all 34 LGBTQIA+ flags.