Popular event Summer Games Done Quick canceled an SNK-sponsored stream, citing, in particular, ethical concerns stemming from the majority ownership of the developer by the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. The cancellation of the event came around two hours into a seed run of Metal Slug, which was part of a partnered celebration of the fast-paced sidescrollers’ 30th anniversary. At this point, the event was interrupted by the run’s host, Twitch streamer Ateatree, who shared with the duo performing the speedrun that he recieved a notice from GDQ in concern of the stream.
He stated:
Due to ongoing concerns and statements from people watching, we do plan to rain check the rest of the runs for tonight. We all thank you very much for watching. Please be good to yourselves and each other.
GDQ published a statement on their official X account on July 12, stating that this decision was made due to concerns coming from the speedrunning community regarding “human rights concerns tied to the Saudi government.” The organization went on to state that they have no plans to accept funds from the sponsor over the event, nor do they plan to work with the sponsor again. They went on to say the partnership “conflicted” with the group’s values of “supporting human rights and inclusivity.”
They went on to apologize to their community, stating they had “failed to conduct the level of review our community should expect from us and that was an oversight we deeply regret and take full responsibility for.” The speedrunning charity went on to promise to bolster the review process regarding taking on sponsors and partnerships.
Japanese developer and publisher SNK came under majority ownership back in November of 202 by the MiSK Foundation, a nonprofit notably owned by the Crowned Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. Back in August 2021, MiSK Foundation CEO Badr Bin Hamoud AlBadr was appointed as director of SNK, with the company acquiring around 96% of the developer in the 6 years since.
The studio addressed concerns over this back in 2022. Producer and designer Yasuyuki Oda spoke to VGC, stating:
We’re not a political company or anything like that, so it doesn’t affect us in any way. It has no – no – effect on our creative output. We have full freedom on what we want to create.
On a more positive note, Summer Games Done Quick, which is the organization’s annual speedrunning event for charity, ended its festival on July 12th, raising $2,408,701 for Doctors Without Borders.
Remember to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Bluesky to keep up to date on everything we have going on!
