Rapper Pusha T put out an announcement via Instagram on August 27 saying the Chaos Esports Club would not go through with its ESL One Cologne semi-final match against Team Liquid in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive due to the current circumstances involving police brutality in the United States. He specifically referred to the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin with the hashtag #JusticeForJacobBlake.
Blake is a 29-year-old man who was shot seven times by the police, and while he survived the shooting, he may not be able to walk again according to a report by Insider last week. The bullets were confirmed to have hit his kidneys, liver, and stomach among other internal organs.
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Because of these events, Pusha T and Logic decided to pull the Chaos Esports Club out of the gaming scene until the end of August to show support for protests currently going on in America. The team’s match against Team Liquid was postponed to a later date, according to ESL’s official Counter-Strike Twitter account.
Pusha T’s Instagram post talks about how the gaming scene is “part of the problem,” and that there are more important things to focus on at this time than video games. His video announcing Chaos would be off until August 31 also lists over 50 names of those who people have been protesting for, and says there are many others as well, encouraging viewers to “be part of the change.”
On Team Liquid’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Twitter, they acknowledged Chaos Esports’ interest in postponing the match, said they supported the decision, and planned to “continue to drive change where we can.” Team members have expressed their support on Chaos Esports’ Twitter as well, though there are some commenters who claim this decision was a “publicity stunt.”
Other companies in the gaming community have shown their support for Black Lives Matter protests as well. Examples include Epic Games removing police cars in Fortnite and Electronic Arts delaying the first look at Madden NFL 21 back in May. Individual gamers have also shown support for the protests with user-generated content in titles such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons and the Sims.
Chaos Esports Club will be returning to action with games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive after August 31, but with protests against police brutality ongoing there will likely be more movements regarding the situation to come. The same can also be seen in live sports, with NBA teams refusing to take part in games to protest Blake’s shooting.
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Sources: Instagram (1, 2), ESL Twitter, Insider
