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| In August 2014, video game developer ]'s former boyfriend Eron Gjoni wrote a blog post that alleged that she had traded sexual favors for positive reviews<ref name=WaPo/> written by ] journalist Nathan Grayson.<ref name=GuardianKS/><ref name="slate"/><ref name=KotakuRefuted/> 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.<ref name=KotakuRefuted/> | In August 2014, video game developer ]'s former boyfriend Eron Gjoni wrote a blog post that alleged that she had traded sexual favors for positive reviews<ref name=WaPo/> written by ] journalist Nathan Grayson.<ref name=GuardianKS/><ref name="slate"/><ref name=KotakuRefuted/> 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.<ref name=KotakuRefuted/> | ||
| 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.<ref name=WaPo/> A number of commentators within and outside the games industry denounced the attack on Quinn as ] and unfounded.<ref name=Forbes/><ref name=dot/> Quinn and her family were subsequently targeted by a campaign of harassment,<ref name=dot/><ref name=beast/> as were people who had come to her defense, such as game developer ] who was "]" after speaking in support of Quinn, with many of his personal details<ref name=BI/> and documents relating to his company Polytron exposed, making him opt to sell off Polytron and leave the gaming industry.<ref name="gs fish"/> |
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.<ref name=WaPo/> A number of commentators within and outside the games industry denounced the attack on Quinn as ] and unfounded.<ref name=Forbes/><ref name=dot/> Quinn and her family were subsequently targeted by a campaign of harassment,<ref name=dot/><ref name=beast/> as were people who had come to her defense, such as game developer ] who was "]" after speaking in support of Quinn, with many of his personal details<ref name=BI/> and documents relating to his company Polytron exposed, making him opt to sell off Polytron and leave the gaming industry.<ref name="gs fish"/> | ||
| The harassment expanded to include the feminist media critic ] after the release of an episode in her '']'' series coincided with the initial allegations towards Quinn.<ref name="bbc sarkeesian"/> Sarkeesian reported receiving death threats that compelled her to temporarily leave her home.<ref name="bbc sarkeesian"/><ref name="bbc sarkeesian"/><ref name=BF/> At the same time, involvement from social media, sites such as ] and ], and from figures such as ] (who was one of the first to use the ] #GamerGate on ])<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/09/new-chat-logs-show-how-4chan-users-pushed-gamergate-into-the-national-spotlight/ | title = Chat logs show how 4chan users created #GamerGate controversy | publisher = ] | date = September 9, 2014 | accessdate = September 14, 2014 | first = Casey | last = Johnson }}</ref> eventually expanded the issue over Quinn and Phil Fish into the ensuing debate.<ref name=Forbes/><ref>{{cite web|last1=VanDerWerff |first1=Todd|title=#GamerGate: Here's why everybody in the video game world is fighting|url=http://www.vox.com/2014/9/6/6111065/gamergate-explained-everybody-fighting|publisher=Vox|accessdate=7 September 2014}}</ref> | The harassment expanded to include the feminist media critic ] after the release of an episode in her '']'' series coincided with the initial allegations towards Quinn.<ref name="bbc sarkeesian"/> Sarkeesian reported receiving death threats that compelled her to temporarily leave her home.<ref name="bbc sarkeesian"/><ref name="bbc sarkeesian"/><ref name=BF/> At the same time, involvement from social media, sites such as ] and ], and from figures such as ] (who was one of the first to use the ] #GamerGate on ])<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/09/new-chat-logs-show-how-4chan-users-pushed-gamergate-into-the-national-spotlight/ | title = Chat logs show how 4chan users created #GamerGate controversy | publisher = ] | date = September 9, 2014 | accessdate = September 14, 2014 | first = Casey | last = Johnson }}</ref> eventually expanded the issue over Quinn and Phil Fish into the ensuing debate.<ref name=Forbes/><ref>{{cite web|last1=VanDerWerff |first1=Todd|title=#GamerGate: Here's why everybody in the video game world is fighting|url=http://www.vox.com/2014/9/6/6111065/gamergate-explained-everybody-fighting|publisher=Vox|accessdate=7 September 2014}}</ref> | ||
Revision as of 12:05, 15 September 2014
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#GamerGate refers to a 2014 controversy in the video games industry. It arose from the sexist harassment of video game developer Zoe Quinn and feminist cultural critic Anita Sarkeesian, but it has also been frequently characterized as being about the ethics of video game journalism, such as allegations of conflicts of interest between journalists and developers.
Background
In August 2014, 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.
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.
References
- Peter Haas (2014-08-31). "GamerGate: Everyone Hates Each Other And I'm Really Tired". Cinema Blend. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
- ^ Kaplan, Sarah (September 12, 2014). "With #GamerGate, the video-game industry's growing pains go viral". Washington Post. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
- Parkin, Simon (September 9, 2014). "Zoe Quinn's Depression Quest". The New Yorker. Retrieved September 9, 2014.
- ^ Erik Kain (2014-09-04). "GamerGate: A Closer Look At The Controversy Sweeping Video Game". Forbes. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
- Casey Johnston (2014-08-29). "The death of the "gamers" and the women who "killed" them". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
- ^ Stewart, Keith (September 3, 2014). "Gamergate: the community is eating itself but there should be room for all". The Guardian. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
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.
- ^ Sanghani, Radhika (September 10, 2014). "Misogyny, death threats and a mob of trolls: Inside the dark world of video games with Zoe Quinn - target of #GamerGate". The Telegraph. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
- "#GamerGate: Misogyny or corruption in the gaming community?". Al Jazeera. September 3, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2014.
- ^ Auerbach, David (2014-09-09). "Gaming Journalism Is Over". Slate. Retrieved 2014-09-14.
- ^ Totilo, Stephen (August 20, 2014). "In recent days I've been asked several times". Kotaku.
- ^ Romano, Aja. "The sexist crusade to destroy game developer Zoe Quinn". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- Marcotte, Amanda. "Gaming Misogyny Gets Infinite Lives: Zoe Quinn, Virtual Rape, and Sexism". Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- Karyne Levy (2014-09-02). "Game Developers Are Finally Stepping Up To Change Their Hate-Filled Industry". Business Insider. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
- Maiberg, Emanuel (2014-08-23). "Phil Fish Selling Rights to Fez After Being Hacked". Gamespot. Retrieved 2014-09-06.
- ^ Rawlinson, Kevin (2014-09-02). "Gamers take a stand against misogyny after death threats". BBC. Retrieved 2014-09-06.
- Joseph Bernstein (2014-08-28). "Gaming Is Leaving "Gamers" Behind". Buzzfeed. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
- Johnson, Casey (September 9, 2014). "Chat logs show how 4chan users created #GamerGate controversy". Ars Technica. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
- VanDerWerff, Todd. "#GamerGate: Here's why everybody in the video game world is fighting". Vox. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
- Leigh Alexander (2014-09-05). "Sexism, Lies, and Video Games: The Culture War Nobody Is Winning". Time. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
- Todd Martens (2014-09-06). "Hero Complex: Gamergate-related controversy reveals ugly side of gaming community". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
- Kevin Rawlinson (2014-09-02). "Gamers take a stand against misogyny after death threats". BBC News. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
- Aja Romano (2014-09-06). "Zoe Quinn claims 4chan was behind GamerGate the whole time". The Daily Dot. Retrieved 2014-09-07.
- Tito, Greg (2014-09-07). "Exclusive: 4Chan and Quinn Respond to Gamergate Chat Logs". The Escapist. Retrieved 2014-09-14.
- "Anita Sarkeesian shares the most radical thing you can do to support women online - The Verge". The Verge. 14 September 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
- Kerzner, Liana (September 12, 2014). "Gamers Live: An In-Depth Analysis of GamerGate". MetalEater.com.