Respawn doubles down on pride statement despite silence from EA

While its parent company stays mum, Respawn is speaking out.
The Respawn Entertainment logo.
Image via Respawn Entertainment

Apex Legends and Battlefield developer Respawn Entertainment has shared a tweet in support of Pride and transgender rights, a bold move in the face of parent company EA’s continued silence.

Recommended Videos

While EA has yet to make a statement about its support for prominent social issues, Respawn continues to make its position clear through both its official channels and the accounts of its employees. The most recent tweet, shared earlier today, reads: “At Respawn, we strive to be inclusive in the games we create and how we treat our employees and our players. Inaction is a choice and hurts those we care for.” It included an image of some of the LGBTQ+ characters in Apex with an additional statement that ended in an all-caps “Trans rights are human rights.”

The tweet is the most recent representation of friction between EA and the employees of its subsidiary studios. As reported by Kotaku, Respawn head Vince Zampella tweeted yesterday, “Trans rights are human rights. It is as simple as that. Respawn has grown on the principles of diversity, equality, and inclusion and strives to uphold those values. Let’s be better humans.” VP of franchise creative for The Sims Lyndsay Pearson, who works for EA subsidiary studio Maxis, made a similar statement on Twitter.

The tweets followed an internal meeting at EA that addressed the company’s silence on prominent social issues like transgender rights and the right to abortion, particularly on the eve of Pride month. EA staff is frustrated that the company won’t make a public statement in support of its views, to which EA upper management responded that trans rights and the right to abortion don’t have enough internal support throughout the company for it to take a public stance.

Employees reportedly threatened to walk out over EA’s unspecified plans for Pride month and concerns that the company would simply “rainbow-wash” its logo during June, after which the company sent out an email to employees detailing what they could share on social media for Pride. While the email “strongly recommends” participating in “activities that go beyond verbalising support for Pride,” employees do not seem to be satisfied with the company’s inaction so far.


Dot Esports is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more
related content
Read Article All NBA 2K Mobile codes (March 2024): Get Energy Recharges, Wheel Spins, Free Player Cards, and more
Read Article Fruit Battlegrounds Codes (March 2024) — Free Gems!
Read Article Can you play Infinite Craft in Spanish?
The Infinite Craft logo.
Related Content
Read Article All NBA 2K Mobile codes (March 2024): Get Energy Recharges, Wheel Spins, Free Player Cards, and more
Read Article Fruit Battlegrounds Codes (March 2024) — Free Gems!
Read Article Can you play Infinite Craft in Spanish?
The Infinite Craft logo.
Author
Emily Morrow
Emily is a staff writer covering Apex Legends, Overwatch, Pokemon, and general gaming for Dot Esports. Her other bylines include Digital Trends, Screen Rant, and GameSpew. She also works as a narrative designer in games. Get in touch with her on Twitter @thepokeflute.