"An oversight we deeply regret": Games Done Quick cancel SNK-sponsored stream following backlash over studio's Saudi Arabian ownership

Games Done Quick, the speedrunning organisation behind events like Games Done Queer and the yearly Summer Games Done Quick, have cancelled a stream sponsored by Metal Slug developers SNK following backlash to the fighting game studio being majority owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. Games Done Quick apologised for the "oversight", and wrote that they "failed to conduct the level of review" they should have when deciding whether to accept the sponsorship deal.

The SNK sponsored stream designed to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Metal Slug series was announced yesterday evening by Games Done Quick, and was subsequently ended early by the organisation. While it was live, it faced a barrage of criticism from viewers understandably miffed that GDQ would opt to work with a studio 96% owned by the Saudi PIF, given the country's terrible human rights record.

GDQ also broadcast the stream immediately following this year's Summer Games Done Quick, which saw them raise money for Doctors Without Borders, an organisation who've worked to provide aid to people killed and wounded by Saudi-led coalition air strikes carried out in Yemen in recent years.

"We have heard the concerns from our community regarding this partnership, specifically the company’s majority ownership by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, and the human rights concerns tied to the Saudi government," Games Done Quick wrote in a statement on the sponsored stream's cancellation posted to social media. "We will not accept the funds from this sponsorship or continue to work with this sponsor again. GDQ is committed to supporting human rights and inclusivity, and we recognize that this partnership conflicted with those values."

As for how the sponsorship made it to the point of going live, GDQ claimed that they "failed to conduct the level of review [their] community should expect from [them] and that was an oversight [they] deeply regret and take full responsibility for". So, they say they'll "review and strengthen" their process around deciding which sponsorship proposals to accept from this point on. The organisation also apologised to the SNK-backed stream's host and speedrunning participants, "who had nothing to do with this decision and whose runs were disrupted as a result".

I imagine that whether this swiftly canned stream ends up permanently fracturing trust those who called it out have for Games Done Quick will more than likely hinge on that strengthened evaluation process preventing the organisation from putting their foot in the mouth again so jarringly any time soon. SNK's Saudi ownership's far from new or a secret, though, so it's perplexing that this stream wasn't at least flagged as one which could cause potential issues or would require careful handling ahead of time.