Madden Shooting Leads to Statements and Security Updates from Events

As we all know, an official Madden tournament in Jacksonville, Flordia unfortunately became the site of a mass shooting when one of the competitors opened fire on the other participants. After the shooting, questions have arisen regarding security measures at gaming events. EA itself has canceled a few subsequent Madden events, with the intent to re-evaluate its security situation. Other events are either commenting on the matter, preparing further statements, or in the case of Evo, already announcing new plans for future events.

On the EA front, the next several planned qualifying events for Madden 19, which were intended to feed into a larger event, have been cancelled. While the Madden Classic is run by EA, the qualifying events are run by independent partners. A statement from EA CEO Andrew Wilson confirms that the company will be performing a “comprehensive review” of its safety protocols in the meantime.

Evo Owner Joey Cuellar, also known as Mr. Wizard, made an announcement for next year’s tournament. While he said he can’t comment on security measures in detail, and notes that this past year’s even had a big, undercover security presence, next year’s event will see metal detectors in place for the entire duration.

Other companies and events didn’t have announcements, but did speak to their policies to evaluate security measures each year of their respective events. In speaking to Kotaku, the likes of CEO, Dramhack, Riot Games, and others all spoke on the matter, while Valve declined to comment. Blizzard stood out, as the company confirmed it is in the process of preparing a statement.

[Source: Kotaku]