There’s a difference between just asking questions and penning a scarlet letter. Polygon’s newest editorial asks what video game companies are doing to combat the overblown issue of online harassment.
It’s no secret that gamers, like fans of books and films, care deeply about the games they enjoy, and that passion can sometimes lead to heated debates over content. The intensity of these discussions isn’t unique to video games, but if the popular narrative to be believed, gamers are a uniquely terrible group of people.
Polygon writer Colin Campbell, who previously chastised the makers of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided for their use of the term “mechanical apartheid,” paints a bleak picture of the game industry. The article cites a “series of incidents,” all of which he claims cast a negative light on video games, as if the game developers themselves are responsible for refusing to partake in each episode of social media drama.
The outlet asked 25 game companies a question: “Please can you share with us how [your company] plans to deal with any situation in which an employee comes under abuse, doxxing or threatening messages. Alternatively, please let us know what steps you are currently taking to tackle this issue.”
Polygon might as well have asked these studios what they’re doing to stop gamers from getting swatted by real criminals. Only a few replied, but most of the companies queried either ignored the inquiry or declined to dignify the question with a response. Predictably, these studios are named and shamed.
The article speculates that the silence of these companies may be a “manifestation of fear” of the #GamerGate movement, accusing gamers of coordinating “poisonous hate campaigns” against game developers, with narrative twists to each individual event. Harassment is endemic in video games, it would seem.
Nintendo was one of the few companies to provide a statement, saying simply that it rejects harassment; omits certain features in its games to limit players’ exposure to negative communication (its online shooter Splatoon doesn’t have voice chat, to the detriment of team play); and has policies in place to support its employees. Campbell cites an incident where a Nintendo spokesperson was fired from her job after members of a forum sent word of her second job as a call girl to her employer, as if the gaming community was somehow to blame.
Microsoft, which also provided a response, faced controversy a few years ago when game developer Adam Orth made some regrettable comments (that ultimately cost him his job) in defense of the company’s game console. Ironically, those leading the charge against Orth were members of the press (IGN), who blew a Twitter conversation out of proportion (The Verge). (Disclosure: I participated in the chorus of social media outrage against Orth at the time.)
If anyone’s responsible for creating the culture of fear around video games, it’s the gaming press, which is excessively eager to demonize its own audience to the point of losing it. Game developers can’t weigh in on the issue without unconditional support of the narrative due to the legitimate threat of bad press. Even silence makes them worthy of condemnation, as the article itself exhibits.
There’s no denying that some high-profile individuals in the game industry have faced harassment, but it’s difficult to see what private companies can do about it, or how it’s any of their responsibility. Game developers are no more responsible for the actions of a few delinquents than car manufacturers are responsible for drunk drivers. They just make video games.