Walmart, the world’s largest private sector employer, directed its workers to remove violent video game displays and signs following two deadly shootings inside of its stores. This comes the same week that Universal pulled ads in its marketing campaign for an upcoming violent thriller “The Hunt,” and after ESPN and ABC pulled the broadcast of the X Games “Apex Legends,” a newly minted esports tournament.
Walmart stores were sent a memo, which circulated on Twitter, calling for “immediate action” to remove signs and displays that “contain violent themes or aggressive behavior.”
“We’ve taken this action out of respect for the incidents of the past week, and this action does not reflect a long-term change in our video game assortment,” said Tara House, of Walmart’s Corporate Communications department, in an emailed statement Friday morning.