Two of the victims were competitive Madden-players.

Yesterday, we discussed in detail how a player (who allegedly was eliminated early in the tournament) killed two people with his gun in Jacksonville, Florida, then killing himself as well during a Madden event. It turns out that the two victims were Elijah ‘TrueBoy’ Clayton and Taylor ‘SpotMePlzz’ Robertson. Clayton was the person on the video who got the laser scope on him just seconds before the shooting started. He was possibly the first planned victim of David Katz, the killer. With Robertson, his wife and their two-year-old son, are now left behind, which is heartwrenching. May the victims rest in peace.

Electronic Arts, the publisher of the Madden NFL games that are developed under the EA Sports brand, did not stop with just a short statement after the shooting. Sure, we have another statement written by Andrew Wilson, the CEO of the publisher, but we’re not going to quote parts of it and focus on the critical section in it. The Jacksonville shooting happened during a Madden Classic qualifier event, and these usually are held by EA’s partners, possibly with a more relaxed security/safety approach than if it was a direct EA event.

„We have decided 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,” the announcement says. As the unfortunate events resulted in the first victims at an Electronic Arts event, their robust defensive approach at this point is understandable.

Electronic Arts thus cranks up the security.

Source: GamesIndustry; GamesIndustry