Don't Starve studio Klei donates $1 million to the ACLU and NAACP

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Bethesda Softworks has also made a large donation to 'the fight for racial justice.'

(Image credit: Klei)

Indie studio Klei, the developer of games including Don't Starve and Oxygen Not Included, has joined the ranks of game companies supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, announcing today that it will donate $1 million to the ACLU and NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

"As a part of the global community, we believe each of us need to do our part to make the world a safer, kinder, more equal place. As a studio we have much to learn and we do our best to contribute. While we regularly donate to local and global causes, we generally do not announce them and prefer to do the work quietly," the studio wrote on its forums. "In this instance, we feel it is important to let others know we are standing with them, and hopefully inspire others to contribute as best they can."

"Black Lives Matter, and we stand with the Black community. In an effort to take substantive action toward civil rights, equality, and against racial injustice, Klei is donating $1 million between the ACLU and the NAACP legal defense fund."

Bethesda Softworks also made a commitment to change today, pledging $250,000 "for organizations engaged in the fight for racial justice" and promising to improve its internal practices.

"We want our company to be a positive force in fighting these wrongs, and we want to do our part in building a better future for all," Bethesda wrote on Twitter. "We have committed support for #BlackLivesMatter. We will continue unflinchingly to add our voice (or our silence, when appropriate) to the cause, whenever and however we can."

"But as we have all seen in the past month, words are not enough. Our collective eyes have been opened to the realities and unfair treatment that people of color face every day, and we must do everything in our power to help."

Along with the financial commitment, Bethesda also pledged to create a "diversity council to hold us accountable with our focus on diversity and to support our employee-led groups," to hold recurring and mandatory training sessions for all employees on unconscious bias, sensitivity, and allyship, to improve and expand its diversity-based recruiting, and to develop a mentorship program "and other leadership initiatives to increase our support of employee members of the Black and diverse communities."

Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.