Bethesda Black Lives Matter statement pledges $250k to charity and details corporate plan for diversity

By Alyssa Mercante
published

Bethesda joins other video game companies in pledging demonstrable action

(Image credit: Bethesda)

Not long after making a Black Lives Matter statement, Bethesda has expanded upon how the company plans to "do better." The full statement can be found here.

"We have committed support for #BlackLivesMatter. We will continue to unflinchingly add our voice (or our silence, when appropriate) to the case, whenever and however we can," the statement reads. "But as we all have seen in the past month, words are not enough. Our collective eyes have been opened to the realities and unfair treatment that people of color face every day, and we must do everything in our power to help. We can do better. And we will."

The statement then goes into detail about plans Bethesda has for education, allyship, and promoting equity within the company's structure. The plans include:

  • A $250,000 donation to organizations engaged in the fight for racial justice.
  • Creating a diversity council to hold Bethesda accountable with their focus on diversity and to support employee-led groups.
  • Creating Black and diverse employee-led resource groups to shape Bethesda's diversity programs and foster an inclusive workplace.
  • Recurring and mandatory unconscious bias, sensitivity and allyship training for all employees.
  • Improved and expanded diversity-based recruiting efforts.
  • Ongoing educational programs for all Bethesda employees to help raise awareness and elevate the dialogue around all forms of inequity and injustice. 
  • The development of a mentorship program and other leadership initiatives to increase Bethesda's support of employee members of the Black and diverse communities.
  • An annual global service day for all employees, and exploration of additional volunteer efforts to support Black and diverse communities.

Bethesda joins other big names in the gaming industry pledging to make positive changes and have tough conversations about modern day race relations. If you want to offer your support, check out our Black Lives Matter article on all the ways you can help support the movement as well. 

Here's all the game studios who have shared support for Black Lives Matter. 

Alyssa Mercante
Alyssa Mercante

Alyssa Mercante is an editor and features writer at GamesRadar based out of Brooklyn, NY. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.