The mass shooting at a Madden esports tourney that claimed the lives of two young players, Elijah “TrueBoy” Clayton and Taylor “SpotMePlzz” Robertson, has prompted EA to shut down the rest of the qualifier events while it reviews its “safety protocols.”
“While these qualifying events are operated independently by partners, we work with them to ensure competitive integrity and to gather feedback from players,” EA CEO Andrew Wilson announced. “We have made a decision to cancel our three remaining Madden Classic qualifier events while we run a comprehensive review of safety protocols for competitors and spectators. We will work with our partners and our internal teams to establish a consistent level of security at all of our competitive gaming events.”
As we noted on today’s podcast, we’ve had some trepidation of our own in sending MOP’s Larry to PAX West this weekend as planned; the PAX organizers have anticipated that concern and issued a statement discussing its security.
“The safety of our attendees, exhibitors, and staff is paramount to ReedPOP and Penny Arcade. As PAX has grown in popularity, we have responded with the addition of increased private security, law enforcement, and other personnel, each of whom are on-site at all times during our events. As a rule, we do not publicly announce or discuss the details of our security program in order to maintain its effectiveness, however, we work closely with the Washington State Convention Center, private security, the Seattle Police Department and federal law enforcement authorities to identify risks, assess them and develop our comprehensive security protocols for PAX West. We have in place extensive proactive measures; some that are visible during PAX events and many that are not. We are always working to improve our security plans and, if need be, adjust them, to ensure that we are doing all that we can to make PAX West, and all PAX events, a safe and secure environment for the community.”
