Gamergate (harassment campaign): Difference between revisions

For the type of ant, see Gamergate.

#GamerGate refers to a 2014 controversy in the video game industry that began with harassment of independent video game developer Zoe Quinn by an ex-boyfriend but soon also involved feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian. The controversy began discussions on both misogyny in the gamer community as well as the ethics of video game journalism, such as allegations of conflicts of interest between journalists and developers.

Background

In August 2014, indie video game developer Zoe Quinn's former boyfriend Eron Gjoni wrote a blog post that alleged that she had traded sexual favors for positive reviews written by Kotaku journalist Nathan Grayson. Kotaku editor-in-chief Stephen Totilo stated that Grayson had not written anything about Quinn after beginning the relationship and had never reviewed her games.

The incident led to broader allegations on social media that games developers and gaming media are too often closely connected and that cultural criticism of video games has led to an increasing focus on social representation and cultural meaning in games by some video games writers. A number of commentators within and outside the games industry denounced the attack on Quinn as misogynistic and unfounded. Quinn and her family were subsequently targeted by a campaign of harassment, as were people who had come to her defense, such as game developer Phil Fish who was "doxxed" after speaking in support of Quinn, with many of his personal details and documents relating to his company Polytron exposed, making him opt to sell off Polytron and leave the gaming industry.

The harassment expanded to include the feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian after the release of an episode in her Tropes vs. Women in Video Games series coincided with the initial allegations towards Quinn. Sarkeesian reported receiving death threats that compelled her to temporarily leave her home. At the same time, involvement from social media, sites such as 4chan and Reddit, and from figures such as Adam Baldwin (who was one of the first to use the hashtag #GamerGate on Twitter) eventually expanded the issue over Quinn and Phil Fish into the ensuing debate. Also during the events, a radical feminist group known as "The Fine Young Capitalists" reported that their charity game jam on Indiegogo had been hacked; Quinn had previously spoken out against TFYC's campaign and those critical of Quinn, allegedly members of 4chan's video games board "/v/", began to support it to spite her, donating US$17,000 to the campaign and creating a mascot.

A portion of those that support the GamerGate movement took issue with critics and the media claiming them all to be misogynists, and started a second Twitter hashtag "#notyourshield", presenting themselves as women and members of other minorities seeking for changes in the ethics of the video game industry and denying that the core issues behind GamerGate was driven by sexism.

Responses

According to Erik Kain, writing in Forbes, the #GamerGate movement is driven by an anti-feminist backlash against the increasing diversity of voices involved in cultural criticism of video games. "What it boils down to is many people feeling upset that the video game space has been so heavily politicized with a left-leaning, feminist-driven slant," he said.

Writing in Time, Leigh Alexander described the campaign as "deeply sincere" but based on "bizarre conspiracy theories," stating that there is nothing unethical or improper about journalists being friends and acquaintances of those they cover. "Surely these campaigners understand that no meaningful reporting on anything takes place without the trust—and often friendship—of people on the inside," she said. She attributed the controversy to a growing gulf between some traditional video game fans and the increasingly diverse nature of the industry, noting that the maturing and ever-more-mainstream nature of video games opens the genre to longstanding cultural critiques and new perspectives.

David Auerbach of Slate argued it was a case of a fair number of gamers hating the journalists who cover video games, and the journalists hating the video gamers. Like Alexander, Auerbach asserts gaming culture is changing but it is the ordinary video-game journalist that is being phased out.

The online harassment of Quinn and the death threats against Sarkeesian prompted an open letter to the gaming community by independent game developer Andreas Zecher, who called upon the community to take a public stand against the attacks. The letter subsequently attracted the signatures of more than 2000 professionals within the gaming industry.

Zoe Quinn has stated that #GamerGate was manufactured by members of 4chan operating on a private channel specifically to attack her and her followers for her feminist views, releasing numerous screencaps on Twitter. This has been denied by some members of 4chan.

Anita Sarkeesian, speaking in public for the first time (at the XOXO Festival in Portland, Oregon) since she fled her home, remarked regarding the misinformation campaign against her "One of the most radical things you can do is to actually believe women when they talk about their experiences," and noted that "The perpetrators do not see themselves as perpetrators at all... They see themselves as noble warriors."

Liana Kerzner, writing for metaleater.com, criticized some gaming journalists for making "unprofessional, anti-intellectual, and dehumanizing" generalizations about those who supported #GamerGate, and that it had been unfair to paint all of its supporters as motivated by ill will rather than true concern for the state of games journalism. "As a member of the video game media, I am sorry for that. It was wrong, and you guys didn't deserve it." She also urged the gaming community to challenge and reject the "small subgroups of gamers" whose actions have stigmatized the community. "The misogyny within our ranks is real. The racism is real. The homophobia and transgendered stigma is real. The stigma against mental illness is real. Our juvenile relationship with sexualized violence is real," she wrote.

Gaming press sites such as Polygon and Kotaku changed their disclosure and conflict of interest policies, including prohibiting writers from supporting game developers through Patreon.