Several big events and topics have shaped the social dialogue this year, but the biggest and most vocal force this summer so far has been that of the protests related to the brutal killings of George Floyd and other persons of color by police officers in the United States. The Black Lives Matter movement’s influence has been seen in many corners of culture and media since, including video game digital presentations this summer, like Destiny 2’s presentation encouraging viewers to educate themselves on the movement and systemic racism. This work is also helping dismantle other racist aspects of our culture, such as Madden NFL 21 announcing they will change the name for the Washington team in the game.

First confirmed to Kotaku, Electronic Arts has decided to change the name and logo for the Washington NFL team in Madden NFL 21 due to the recent suspension of the name and logo from the real life team. The team’s previous name, the Washington Redskins, has been criticized for years as being a racial slur of Native Americans, and the logo being an appropriation of indigenous culture. Following the Black Lives Matter protests, several petitions and social media campaigns pleaded for the name to be changed, and the team owners finally agreed to it. As such, Electronic Arts felt it necessary to reflect this change in the game, saying:

We are pleased to see Washington’s decision to change their team name and visual identity. We are quickly working to update Madden NFL 21 to feature a generic Washington team, while we await final word on the updated team name and logo design.”

It seems that EA’s intention for Madden NFL 21 is to update the Washington team to a placeholder generic team name and logo, with plans to update the team whatever Washington decides their new team name and logo will be in real life. Digital and EA access versions of the game will automatically receive an update that changes the Washington “audio/commentary updates; motion graphics and presentation updates; stadium art, environments, crowd gear and signage updates; and uniform updates,” with physical disc owners needing to download an update manually to receive the updates.

The full game launches next month, but it is good to see that they were able to find a way to exclude such a racist perpetuation of indigenous stereotypes and ignorance of our nation’s misdeeds. It seems that in regards to being aware of systemic racism, EA Sports may finally be in the game.

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