A new report has claimed that EA has decided to not publicly support abortion and transgender rights due to wanting to be more “inclusive.“
According to Kotaku, at a company-wide town hall meeting held earlier this week on May 24, the gaming publisher told staff it can’t take a stance on every public issue. And that “being an inclusive company means being inclusive of all those points of view.”
This comes following the recent leak that the Supreme Court has plans to overthrow Roe v Wade, a law that protects abortion rights in the US. And it follows recent attacks on trans rights, in particular with Texas ordering that gender-affirming healthcare for minors should be investigated as ‘child abuse.’
Kotaku said that one source familiar with the town hall said that employees were asking EA to make public statements defending abortion and trans rights.
But Mala Singh, chief people officer, apparently said that the company only speaks out when it will “actually have a positive impact” and that it is a “consistent perspective” among all 13,000 employees around the world.
ea wants to focus on making games
“The thing about the world today is there is a lot of division, we know this right, we see it every single day, but the thing that unites us is that we’re all here to make amazing games and experiences for our players, and that is how we have the most positive impact on the world,” Singh said according to a transcript that Kotaku verified.
“These things are hard and they’re personal and we all have our own perspectives and sometimes we won’t speak, and that will be upsetting and I understand that, we really do.”
While EA isn’t making a public statement on these matters of vital healthcare, the company confirmed to Kotaku that it is working on a way to provide these benefits through its existing company healthcare provider.
Recently, companies like Bungie have provided statements in support of Roe v Wade. And Halo assist developer Certain Affinity is even going as far as to support relocation costs for its employees.
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