Games Pulled by Indie Devs Over Valve’s Silence on Black Lives Matter

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"if I continued to profit from their store I'd be complicit with their silence on hate."

Numerous video game developers have been pulling their games from the Steam storefront due to feeling uncomfortable with Valve’s silence surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement and the protests that are still taking place worldwide. Ever since the murder of George Floyd, protests have been held daily to encourage changes and ending police brutality, systematic racism and to fight for basic human rights. However, while protests have achieved a good deal, there’s still a way to go.

One of the ways to show support and stand in solidarity with the protesters has seen developers, publishers, and outlets such as Niantic, Activision Blizzard, EA, and many more issue statements, make donations and promise internal changes. However, Valve has been quiet, and some developers have been pulling their games from the digital storefront as a result.

Julian Glander, an artist, and creator of the games Art Sqool and Lovely Weather We’re Having, has announced that they’re pulling their games from Steam and looks to not be planning to publish with the store again in the future. In a tweet, Glander urges other indie developers to follow suit, and shares a screenshot of a statement they sent to Valve while going through the steps to “Remove an app from sale”.

“Over the past few weeks, Steam and Valve have chosen not to address the Black Lives Matter movement,” the statement reads. “It’s clearer than ever that the owners of this platform feel beholden to a base of angry white male gamers. This makes me especially sad because I feel that some of these people are the people who most need to hear the message of Black Lives Matter.”

tonight i pulled all my games from @steam and i don't see myself publishing with them ever again. i urge other indie devs to join me pic.twitter.com/JrtmdiGOdQ
— Julian Glander (@glanderco) June 12, 2020

Posted: Jun 18, 2020 6:25 pm
Related Forum: PC Gaming Forum

Source: https://www.dualshockers.com/steam-games-pulled-indie-developers-over-valve-silence-black-lives-matter/

Comments

RyanPosted: Mon. Jun 29, 2020

I could Swear Steam did make an announcement regarding this, or at least acknowledged what is happening.

JoeIPosted: Tue. Jun 23, 2020

It's a shame what happened to be honest

TextualPosted: Fri. Jun 19, 2020

Except Steam did do something. This guy didn't do his research.. https://twitter.com/GuerrillaCollec/status/1269674262048026624

SagePosted: Thu. Jun 18, 2020

This is hilarious since this games guys are absolute shit and have no following or anything attached to them. He is literally just using his meager title of "game dev" to make it sound like he is worth more than he is. The people that pull their games off steam are actually mental and need to rethink their decisions. Also his statement about "I feel that these people are the people who most need to hear the message of black lives matter" Is as close as it gets to saying most gamers are white supremacists. dude looks like a complete he buys his milk from a whole grain cow farm that washes their cows 3 times a day and also only milks on sundays while the moon is out cause it somehow affects the cows......

EightThotzPosted: Thu. Jun 18, 2020

Congrats on killing your games before they killed themselves mr indie devs. Bye

AnimePosted: Thu. Jun 18, 2020

It's sad what happened. At least the people are pulling their games.

XBL-ABPosted: Thu. Jun 18, 2020

Alright so they can go, but keep video games out of movements, its annoying to be interrupted by games that we use to escape reality to enjoy ourselves...