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GamerGate refers to a 2014 video game controversy, putatively centered on the ethics of video game journalism, especially accusations of use of personal relationships to obtain favourable reviews and awards in gaming industry, which eventually evolved into debate over the increasing number of cultural critiques of video games from feminist and other perspectives.

Background

In August 2014 personal, private and sensitive information of the video game developer Zoe Quinn was posted to the internet by an ex-boyfriend. His information included allegations regarding a level of personal impropriety in her relationship with a video game journalist from Kotaku. Kotaku editor-in-chief Stephen Totillo stated that the writer 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, who have been called the pejorative "social justice warriors" in social media. Writing in Paste, Garrett Martin said "The common use of the inexplicable epithet “Social Justice Warrior”, a sure sign of anti-equality intent, clearly marked this as a politically retrograde attack against minorities and their supporters."

A number of commentators within and without 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 supporters such as game developer Phil Fish, and internet commentator John Bain. Notably, Fish found himself "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 the next 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 involvement from figures such as Adam Baldwin (who was the first to use the hastag #GamerGate on Twitter) eventually expanded the issue over Quinn and Phil Fish into the ensuing omnibus debate.

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.

Responses

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 videogames, and the journalists hating the videogamers. 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.

References

1. Peter Haas (2014-08-31). "GamerGate: Everyone Hates Each Other And I'm Really Tired". Cinema Blend. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
2. On Ethics, Friendship, and Crowdfunding
4. ^ Erik Kain (2014-09-04). "GamerGate: A Closer Look At The Controversy Sweeping Video Game". Forbes. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
5. Keith Stuart (2014-09-03). "Gamergate: the community is eating itself but there should be room for all". The Guardian. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
6. Casey Johnston (2014-08-29). "The death of the "gamers" and the women who "killed" them". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
7. Gamergate: the community is eating itself but there should be room for all"There’s a sense that social justice warriors are going to “ruin games”. But how? This is a tiny subset of writers and developers sharing a left-leaning ideology – they are big on Twitter, but they are not going to convince Activision, EA, Capcom or any other multinational games corporations to stop making games that conflict with their beliefs."
8. Parkin, Simon (September 9, 2014). "Zoe Quinn's Depression Quest". The New Yorker. Retrieved September 9, 2014.
9. Stuart, Keith (3 September 2014). "Gamergate: the community is eating itself but there should be room for all". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
10. ^ http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/bitwise/2014/09/gamergate_explodes_gaming_journalists_declare_the_gamers_are_over_but_they.html
11. ^ In recent days I've been asked several times, Stephen Totillo, Kotaku, August 20, 2014
12. A brief history of the war between Reddit and Tumblr, Miri Mogilevsky, The Daily Dot, May 23, 2014.
13. Gamergate: the community is eating itself but there should be room for all"They are tired of being dictated to by writers they refer to as social justice warriors, interested more in the issues of representation and sociocultural meaning in games and game development, then the content itself."
14. Why We Didn't Want to Talk About "GamerGate", Garrett Martin, Paste, Sept. 4, 2014
15. ^ Romano, Aja. "The sexist crusade to destroy game developer Zoe Quinn". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
16. Marcotte, Amanda. "Gaming Misogyny Gets Infinite Lives: Zoe Quinn, Virtual Rape, and Sexism". Retrieved 2 September 2014.
17. Karyne Levy (2014-09-02). "Game Developers Are Finally Stepping Up To Change Their Hate-Filled Industry". Business Insider. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
18. Joseph Bernstein (2014-08-28). "Gaming Is Leaving "Gamers" Behind". Buzzfeed. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
19. Maiberg, Emanuel (2014-08-23). "Phil Fish Selling Rights to Fez After Being Hacked". Gamespot. Retrieved 2014-09-06.
20. ^ Rawlinson, Kevin (2014-09-02). "Gamers take a stand against misogyny after death threats". BBC. Retrieved 2014-09-06.
21. /new-chat-logs-show-how-4chan-users-pushed-gamergate-into-the-national-spotlight/
22. VanDerWerff, Todd. "#GamerGate: Here's why everybody in the video game world is fighting". Vox. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
23. Leigh Alexander (2014-09-05). "Sexism, Lies, and Video Games: The Culture War Nobody Is Winning". Time. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
24. Todd Martens (2014-09-06). "Hero Complex: Gamergate-related controversy reveals ugly side of gaming community". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
25. Kevin Rawlinson (2014-09-02). "Gamers take a stand against misogyny after death threats". BBC News. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
26. Aja Romano (2014-09-06). "Zoe Quinn claims 4chan was behind GamerGate the whole time". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
27. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/137293-Exclusive-Zoe-Quinn-Posts-Chat-Logs-Debunking-GamerGate-4Chan-and-Quinn-Respond

• Video game controversies
• Video game journalism