Chances are if you’re reading this article, you probably love video games as much as we do. For you, they’re a form of entertainment and escape like no other. Games let you detach from your everyday problems more than a movie or TV show ever could. Which is why for years, video games have been blamed for real-life violence, and even linked to some pretty horrific incidents over the last few decades.
Immediately after a number of school shootings that have taken place over the past 20 years, people have attempted to lay the blame at the feet of video games. Grand Theft Auto is the franchise that gets most of the blame. It’s understandable, since it’s a game that revolves around the player committing a litany of crimes. However, even if games do inspire some people to commit such horrific crimes, it is a very small percentage of gamers who are affected in this way. As for games bringing out the worst in people in other ways, well, that seems to be a much bigger issue.
Most of the gaming industry revolves around playing titles online in the present day. Most of you reading this will have played games online, and likely played alongside strangers. Chances are those strangers have said something mean to you. Probably an angry nine-year-old who is miles better than us on Fortnite, right? Well, sometimes, but a new study conducted by the Anti-Defamation League has discovered the problem is much bigger than preteens mouthing off at Fortnite-incapable adults.
Of the 1000 US gamers who were surveyed, 74% of them admitted to having experienced harassment when gaming online. What’s even more worrying is that 65% of the respondents would describe the harassment as being “severe.” This harassment includes a lot more than someone making fun or blowing a gasket because we cost them the match. Some of the things gamers have been harassed about include “race, religion, ability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or ethnicity.” Plus, an alarmingly high percentage of people admitted to hearing comments relating to white supremacy, holocaust denial, and support for the Islamic state.
So what prompts this harassment and, in some cases, hatred? It’s right there in the title of this article: anonymity. Those we are gaming with know nothing more about us than our Gamertag and the sound of our voice, and we know just as little about them. That allows them to say things they wouldn’t dream of saying if they were in the same room as us. Its the same principle that applies to social media, but in gaming, the problem seems to be so much worse. According to the ADL’s study, only 37% of Facebook users feel as if they have been harassed on the platform compared to the staggering 74% of gamers.
Perhaps its the fact that we are connected via voice chat when playing games together. That if someone says something hurtful or shocking, they can gauge our reaction in real-time. They also don’t have time to think about. How many times have you typed a message or a reply to a post, read it, and then reconsidered hitting send? When you’re screaming profanities at someone through a microphone’s no time to calm down and reconsider what you’re about to say. It has already been said, and the damage is done.
So what can be done about it? Many of you reading this right now probably just mute any abusive players you come across online. For some gamers, that doesn’t make their life better. For people with anxiety or struggles to socialize, gaming online is the only chance they get to meet people and make new friends. Muting people will make that circle of potential friends smaller and smaller, and they may even reach a point where they simply mute everyone to avoid any potential abuse.
Bans are also pretty ineffective. It doesn’t take much for a determined banned player to simply set up a new account and pick up right where they left off. Plus, once they realize how easy that is, chances are their behavior will continue to get worse rather than better. DOTA 2 recently introduced an “avoid player” ability, however, you have to pay for it. Having to pay to avoid teaming up with abusive players seems pretty backward to us.
Some games are putting practices in place to try and stamp out this alarmingly prevalent issue in gaming. Ubisoft has made “toxicity management” in Rainbow Six: Siege, issuing different lengths of bans without warning, depending on the severity of the incident. Plus, even if developers are of the heartless variety and don’t care about their players, something else from the ADL’s study should have them worried.
The study highlighted that some games are worse than others when it comes to their online communities having toxic environments. Titles such as Overwatch, CS:GO, and PUBG are some the worst offenders. Developers of those games, in particular, should be fearful, as 19% of the gamers surveyed claimed they no longer play online due to harassment. Even more worrying for developers is that 23% of gamers haven’t quit completely, but avoid games that have bad reputations like the ones above. It’s really down to the developers to put better measures in place, but for now, those of us who don’t harass others online need to make sure that we single out the ones that do and make the community a better place for everyone.
