GameStop’s Ray Rice Joke Is Met with Swift Condemnation

There is often a fine line between dark humor and plainly offensive jokes, which can be difficult to walk. GameStop recently learned this the hard way when a joke that included a Ray Rice reference went awry. It’s worth pointing out that the context of the material centered on a question about “Madden NFL 19” potentially having a Battle Royale mode.

The joke was posted on Twitter from GameStop’s official account. It has since been deleted. A screenshot of an exchange between whoever was managing the account and another user is posted on Polygon, which provides context to the story.

“Is this game going to have a Battle Royale mode?” the user asked GameStop after it tweeted about “Madden NFL 19.” In response, GameStop replied with “If it does – we got dibs on Ray Rice.”

Now, this particular scenario covers several subjects at once, but two are the most significant. One is the apparent presence of Battle Royale modes in practically every game already released or is scheduled for release. Many gamers have now come to see the trend as ridiculous.

The other part of the joke is the reference to the fact that Rice has a history of violence. As such, it’s easy to see why GameStop might have thought to joke about it in this particular context. Unfortunately for the retail chain, it only invited a storm of internet outrage.

Several users on Twitter called GameStop out for crossing the line, with many calling the joke offensive, Game Rant notes. These kinds of occurrences are nothing new on Twitter, of course, with users taking offense to practically anything.

On the other hand, the case involving Rice assaulting his then fiancée and now wife, Janay Palmer, was major news. It even became the main driving force behind the campaign against domestic violence by the NFL. A joke made by a major brand about the incident was bound to attract the wrong kind of attention.