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Facebook pledges $10m to its ‘Black Gaming Creators Program’

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Facebook will invest $10m USD over the next two years to help black streamers make it big by offering funding, mentorship, and training opportunities.

Facebook has just announced the launch of its ‘Black Gaming Creators Program’ in lieu of supporting black streamers going full-time with content creation on its platform.

You may recall the company pledged $200m USD as part of a commitment to back black-owned businesses back in June, when the BLM protests were most prevalent, but this week marks the first occasion that the black gaming community is getting its own slice of the pie.

A $10m USD investment will now begin to filter through over the next two years ($5m each year) offering streamers guaranteed monthly wages, a ‘Partners’ status on Facebook Gaming, admittance to bi-monthly mentorship and training summits, and access to early development features designed to bolster ethnic diversity across Facebook’s gaming arm.

‘We are setting aside additional funding to help support our next generation of black gaming creators,’ a spokesperson revealed.

Earlier in the year, a civil rights audit determined that Facebook hadn’t done enough to combat discrimination, misinformation, and incitements of violence on its platform, and funnily enough, Facebook commissioned the findings itself.

The decision not to pull a divisive post from Donald Trump for running afoul of the platform’s ‘Violence and Incitement’ policy, and also failing to block advertisers from excluding visibility on their content by race, led to a widescale advertising exodus of over 900 brands and generally some real negative PR throughout the best part of 2020. In response to the audit, Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg conceded, ‘It’s becoming increasingly clear that we have a long way to go.’

While a $10m USD outgoing isn’t exactly huge by Facebook’s standards, this initiative is definitely a step in the right direction to becoming more inclusive, and may just inspire other networks to be proactive in facing the problem head on.

Looking at the scope of the issue, it’s clear that there’s plenty of work to be done on that front. Let’s use Twitch as a prime example. Far and away the most popular streaming platform out there today, currently its creator/viewer base is dominated by a white male demographic by as much as 81.5%. Worrying, eh?

It’s this kind of disparity Facebook is aiming to cull as Facebook Gaming inevitably gains more popularity in the years ahead, and the words of Gaming Partnerships chief Leo Olebe sum up the intention behind the ‘Black Gaming Creators Program’ perfectly.

‘Facebook wants to help move the games industry forward and we only do it by providing opportunities for people who have been previously “underserved.”’

Gaming Editor London, UK

I’m Jamie (He/Him), the Editor in Chief at Thred. Keeping up with gaming and revolutionary technology is my forte, but when away from my keyboard, you’ll probably find me wrapped around a large Tango ice blast at the latest mediocre horror flick. Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn and drop me some ideas/feedback via email.

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