After NBA Strike, Esports Teams Postpone Games To Combat Systemic Racism

Two professional Counter-Strike teams have postponed their upcoming match to support protests against systemic racism. Team Liquid and Chaos FC both announced that they would not be competing in August 27's ESL One Cologne 2020 match.

"We are mad, we are exhausted," Chaos FC said in a tweet. "We know that gaming is part of the problem. We are not competing[...]in order to do our part to move the light where it belongs."

Chaos FC was the first to decide not to play; Team Liquid followed shortly after. "We support their decision and stand with Chaos," Team Liquid tweeted.

The move follows teams in both the NBA and MLB as they refused to play after Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot seven times in the back by the police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin while trying to break up an argument between two other people. Protests have broken out in the city over the past three days since the shooting. Protests have also started in other cities throughout the country, including Los Angeles, against police brutality and systemic racism.

NBA 2K development studio 2K Games said that it supports the actions taken by NBA players, adding that the studio "stand[s] against racial injustice and the continued violence against the Black community."