Epic Games’ silence on racist viral video speaks volumes

When a professional Fortnite player uses racial slurs to describe the intended targets of his extensive firearms collection, one would expect the developer to take action. Yet, Epic Games said nothing. It’s the latest chapter in the company’s long history of dismissing the Black community.

This article contains language some readers may find offensive.

On May 23, a video featuring professional Fortnite player “Sin” appeared on Twitter. In the video, Sin shows off his firearms collection while talking about how the situations that his “armory” keeps him prepared for. Twice during the video, Sin uses an anti-Black racial slur. One instance of the slur’s usage is to describe one of the scenarios in which he would turn to his assortment of weapons.

And yet, Epic Games said nothing. The company chose not to comment on the situation, despite the fact that Sin was due to compete in an Epic-sponsored Fortnite tournament scheduled for May 28. They did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Fragster. They simply chose to stay silent.

Epic Games’ inaction is just the latest example of the gaming giant casting the Black community aside.

Epic Games’ poor track record with the Black community

Epic Games has a long history of dismissing and mishandling the Black community. Numerous Black creators accused Epic of stealing dance moves they had created and implementing them into Fornite as revenue-generating emotes without credit or compensation for the creator. Several of these accusations escalated to lawsuits, including one by actor Alfonso Ribeiro, who sued Epic over the use of ‘The Carlton’, a dance Ribeiro created for his character on the hit 90s sitcom, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

In 2020, following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Epic responded by removing police cars from Fortnite and airing a panel discussion on race in America. The latter was a complete failure, with players throwing in-game tomatoes at the screens showing the panel.

In 2021, Epic partnered with TIME Magazine to introduce the ‘March Through Time’ event to Fornite, recreating Washington DC’s National Mall and leading players through an educational experience about Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. However, this was critically panned as being shallow and under-developed. Many writers also pointed to the juxtaposition between Fornite’s style and the historical weight of King’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech, which played during the event. Going even further, some pointed to how the bizarre spectacle of watching the said speech from King while people wore cartoon outfits and did dance moves completely undercut the impact of the event.

It feels as though Epic Games cares about the Black community when it suits Epic Games — whether that’s profiting from their content or pushing events that discuss racial justice, while also getting people to play Fornite.

Epic Games’ loud, but unsurprising, silence

Returning to the present day, the rhetoric expressed by Sin in his video is not uncommon in America. Once relegated to white supremacist message boards, the idea that America is “losing” to multi-culturalism and that white Americans are becoming a minority has become increasingly pervasive. While Sin did not use those exact words or make any overt reference to white supremacist rhetoric, there is a common sentiment shared by The Great Replacement Theory and Sin’s comments about an “outbreak” of non-white individuals.

While the instances of racially-motivated mass shootings are too numerous to list, we only have to look to earlier this month for evidence that they are still very much happening. On May 14, a man killed 10 Black shoppers at a supermarket in Buffalo, leaving behind a manifesto that expressed racist rhetoric.

While Sin tried to defend his actions by saying that he hadn’t directly threatened anyone, in a way he had. He had showcased the obscene firepower at his disposal and used derogatory, dehumanizing language to describe the specific group of people he was willing to use it on.

But Epic Games did nothing. Because they are the company with the player base that throws tomatoes at videos about racial inequality; who floss as Rick Sanchez while listening to the ‘I Have A Dream’ speech; who show off their guns while using racial slurs to describe the people they are willing to use them on. And no, not every Fortnite player harbours racist beliefs. But Epic knows that they could alienate paying customers by coming out against things such as the video from Sin.

And so, most likely, the only consequence Sin will see is one imposed upon him by those around him. “Acro”, the player he qualified for the May 28 esports event with, disavowed Sin in the hours after the video went public.

But if Acro hadn’t done that; if he had supported Sin, what would have happened? Would Epic have simply allowed the pair to compete and potentially win $130,000? Because of Epic Games’ inaction, we’ll likely never know.

Now, you might read this and say that it’s just one guy, and not an especially notable guy at that. But that’s not the point. The point is that it happened. The point is that Epic Games did nothing. The point is that it will happen again.

The modern world is at a crossroads. You cannot sit on the fence when it comes to racial justice and racial equity.

And yet Epic Games is seemingly content to dither in the middle of the road.

Header: Epic Games, Katie Crampton on Wikimedia, Emojipedia