SELFHOOD on: Gaming’s toxicity problem
by Adele Lefebvre du Prey
Photo credit Rage Darling
Once dismissed as a fringe part of culture, gaming has firmly entered the mainstream in recent years; with stereotypes of what constitutes a ‘typical gamer’ being steadily dismantled along the way.
But despite reaching new and more diverse audiences, issues around toxicity and exclusivity in these communities remain. When we spoke to the SELFHOOD Collective we found the world of gaming still isn’t as welcoming as you might think.
Female gamers in particular are being put off playing some of the big name games attached to communities that they still perceive to be hard to penetrate as a woman. Sezin, 23, told us:
“I played [a game] only once or twice because when I talked, I got bullied by the male players...they think that I can’t play or that I shouldn’t play because I am a woman.
Many female gamers are often discouraged from certain titles before hitting the download button, having seen comments on social media or been warned off by friends. Ceren, 19, told us she was “very hesitant” before she started playing online because most of her friends had told her that “people would make fun of me for being a girl”. She told us:
“When you play badly, or even when you do nothing at all, [many gamers] say bad words about you…one day a person on my team said ‘I hope your mom dies!’”.
The fact that women are now estimated to make-up 41% of gamers in the US is huge progress, but it won’t count for much if female gamers are driven away by unchecked sexism.
Sadly, this kind of online abuse is nothing new in modern society. Gaming communities appear to be just another outlet for anonymous hatred to thrive. Ceren referenced “expressions of racism that will offend people from some walks of life” that made her “stay away from them as much as possible”. Meanwhile, Hakan, 22, told us how he has frequently been witness to “vulgar homophobic” conversations whilst playing online.
There are clearly bigger societal issues at play here, but the gaming industry still has a responsibility to ensure the communities that their games are built upon are safe and inclusive.
In 2021, seeing a black, female or gay gamer shouldn’t be weird to anyone.
Some brands in the highly visible esports space have sought to address this, with Gen.G’s partnership with Bumble leading to the creation of female-only teams for Fortnite and VALORANT (which more recently spawned an all-female server, Galorant).
By doing so they hope to increase female participation as well as promote inclusivity in the wider esports industry. Having all-female spaces like this fosters a positive atmosphere and helps newcomers feel heard, supported and, most importantly, respected.
For brands looking to put in place these kinds of initiatives, research into how to change the attitude and respect of other players towards newcomers to their game is a vital point for companies to consider. For developers, a more balanced representation of female characters in video games (as opposed to the hyper sexualised or hyper innocent female archetypes that many games have been built around) would seem a great place to start.
Further solutions could also be found by looking outside of the industry. Just as traditional sports have set the template for esports in terms of competition, professionalisation and monetisation, it’s likely there are lessons to be learned in terms of promoting inclusivity too, with brands like Nike showing what happens when a brand represents and amplifies the voices of women in a male dominated sector.
Regardless of moral obligations, community-based toxicity should still be a huge concern to all gaming execs.
For a start, it’s clear that a significantly sized and hugely influential section of potential players could be playing less (or not playing at all). As Sezin put it, “when a toxic player comes to my team, I stop playing”.
For all the mainstream success that video games publishers, developers and brands have enjoyed in recent years, there is always a way it can come tumbling back down. Ignoring the needs of half of your target audience seems like a surefire way of doing just that.