Epic Games, an American video game and software developer, has postponed Fortnite’s next in-game live event and the onset of the game’s next season, the Verge reported.
The decision has been taken in consideration of the massive protests happening over the death of George Floyd and ongoing police brutality.
The in-game live event, titled “The Device,” will now take place on June 15. The next season, called Chapter 2 Season 3, will begin on June 17.
“We’re acutely aware of the pain our friends, families, team members, players, and communities are experiencing,” Epic said in a blog post.
He added: “We believe in equality and justice, diversity and inclusion, and that these fundamentals are above politics. The team is eager to move Fortnite forward, but we need to balance the Season 3 launch with time for the team to focus on themselves, their families, and their communities.”
This is the third postponement of the new season. The first was announced in April, and the second was announced last week. This is the second delay for The Device event, which was delayed for the first time last week, the Verge report added.
This year, many other scheduled tech and gaming events have been delayed because of the protests or the novel coronavirus. Sony postponed a PS5 event planned for June 4. EA postponed the announcement of Madden 21. And Google postponed the release of new features coming in Android 11 that had been scheduled for today.
Meanwhile, the protests have gained momentum across the United States, despite curfews and aggressive policing methods in some places.
Yesterday, thousands of people march in the streets in Minneapolis, Orlando, New York, Denver, Boston, Seattle, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Houston, Washington, D.C., and many more cities, expressing their outrage over ongoing police brutality and systemic racism, Atlantic reported.