Harassment of game makers: Prevalence and impact

Authors Eve Crevoshay Rachel Kowert

Plaintext

F1000Research 2023, 11:1518 Last updated: 21 MAR 2023

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Harassment of game makers: Prevalence and impact
[version 2; peer review: 1 approved]
Rachel Kowert , Eve Crevoshay
Take Thisq, Seattle, WA, USA

v2 First published: 14 Dec 2022, 11:1518 Open Peer Review
https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.126998.1
Latest published: 20 Jan 2023, 11:1518
https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.126998.2 Approval Status

1
Abstract
Background: Online harassment is a relatively commonplace version 2
occurrence in the video gaming industry and player communities. A (revision) view
lack of diversity has unquestionably contributed to the high levels of 20 Jan 2023
such incidences.
Methods: In this paper, we take an exploratory approach, via a cross-
version 1
sectional observational study, to evaluate the harassment of game
14 Dec 2022 view
industry professionals on social media. In this new sphere of growing
concern, there is evidence of significant harm for game makers and
their radius of impact. We will discuss the prevalence rates, nature of 1. Amanda Cote , University of Oregon,
harassment, and the ways in which a lack of diversity has contributed Eugene, USA
to this phenomenon.
Results: In total, 282 video game industry professionals completed Any reports and responses or comments on the
the survey in its entirety. More than half of all participants reported article can be found at the end of the article.
experiencing harassment on social media (59.6%) and nearly all
reported witnessing harassment happening to other members of the
videogames industry via social media (92.2%). This harassment can
have a significant impact on well-being, including increased anxiety
(62.1%), feelings of isolation (37.6%) and increased depression (36.2%).
Almost one quarter (23.8%) reported symptoms related to post-
traumatic stress disorder. One out of 10 participants reported suicidal
thoughts because of online harassment. A significant number of
respondents (37.3%) reported that had to take steps to reduce their
physical safety due to online harassment. Over half of all respondents
saying they were targets of hate because of some aspect of their
identity.
Conclusions: The results indicate high rates of online harassment,
both direct and indirect, among members of the gaming industry at
all levels. Responses also pointed to substantial mental health and
behavioral impacts of both experiencing and witnessing online
harassment. Without large-scale action, this problem will continue to
reinforce the lack of diversity inside game studios, pushing out
marginalized employees due to a hostile work environment.

Page 1 of 16
F1000Research 2023, 11:1518 Last updated: 21 MAR 2023

Keywords
video games, game development, hate, harassment, mental health,
diversity

This article is included in the Diversity, Inclusion
and Equity in Game Development and Design
collection.

Corresponding author: Rachel Kowert (rachel@takethis.org)
Author roles: Kowert R: Conceptualization, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review &
Editing; Crevoshay E: Conceptualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing
Competing interests: No competing interests were disclosed.
Grant information: The author(s) declared that no grants were involved in supporting this work.
Copyright: © 2023 Kowert R and Crevoshay E. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.
How to cite this article: Kowert R and Crevoshay E. Harassment of game makers: Prevalence and impact [version 2; peer review: 1
approved] F1000Research 2023, 11:1518 https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.126998.2
First published: 14 Dec 2022, 11:1518 https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.126998.1

Page 2 of 16
F1000Research 2023, 11:1518 Last updated: 21 MAR 2023

REVISED Amendments from Version 1
We have systematically addressed the concerns from reviewer #1 and added more context around the discussions and
findings as well as elaborated on the references used in the background of the article.
Any further responses from the reviewers can be found at the end of the article

Introduction
Online harassment is a relatively commonplace occurrence in digital game and game adjacent spaces (Anti-Defamation
League, 2022; Kowert & Cook, 2022). A 2022 report from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) indicated that 83% of
adults and 60% of teenagers experienced harassment in online multiplayer games in the last six months. Of these, 71% of
adult online multiplayer gamers experienced severe abuse, including physical threats, stalking, and sustained harassment.
This high rate of incidence is supported by other frequency reports (Bryter, 2020; Kowert & Cook, 2022), which have
found the more extreme forms of hate and harassment to be more the exception than the norm. For example, Kowert
and Cook (2022) reported that nearly half of all game players have directly experienced sexual harassment (45%) and
violent threats (46.8%) in game, and more than half have experienced hate speech (64%). These experiences can
have significant mental health impacts on the victim, including short-term distress to long-term post-traumatic stress
symptomatology (ADL, 2021). This experience tends to be magnified for victims of marginalized genders and ethnic
backgrounds (Bryter, 2020; Fagan, 2021). The sheer prevalence of hate and harassment in gaming communities suggests
a level of normalization of these behaviors. This normalization is also sometimes referred to as “toxic gamer culture,”
which is a phrase that has entered our common vernacular to reference to the set of culturally justified behaviors within
gaming communities that are harmful to others within and outside of gaming spaces.

In the last few years, there has been a growing trend for hate and harassment in gaming cultures to expand beyond other
players towards game makers. The aim of this study is to quantify these trends and explore the prevalence rates, nature of
harassment, and the ways in which a lack of diversity has contributed to this phenomenon. As no known research has
previously examined these outcomes among video game industry professionals, this work is exploratory.

Background
Harassment of game makers
In the last few years, there have been several high-profile cases of the harassment of game makers. In this context, “game
maker” refers to a professional in the video games industry that works in any aspect of video game production at any level.

While the harassment of game makers (especially female ones) has been a very real issue for many years, in 2019 we
started to see discussions of these behaviors within the broader public spotlight when former Guild Wars 2 narrative
designer Jessica Price’s was fired from ArenaNet after engaging in a Twitter exchange with a player. Because the Twitter
exchange itself was relatively innocuous, her firing surprised and angered many. As Price noted:

“[ArenaNet CEO Mike O’Brien] spent some time insisting that developers must be friends with the company’s
customers, and that it was unacceptable to say that we aren’t, even when we’re not on the clock.” (Campbell, 2018).

Discussions about the harassment of game makers reemerged in 2021 after the release of Boyfriend Dungeon by
Montreal studio Kitfox Games and subsequent harassment campaign of one of the game’s voice actors, Alexander Gross,
who voiced the game’s main villain, Eric. Players developed a universal disdain for this character due to his use of
emotional manipulation towards the character-controlled protagonist. This, combined with an insufficiently specific
content warning, led to players being taken aback by Eric’s overtly manipulative behavior. A small but significant number
turned to harassment of Gross in response (Gach, 2021).

Multiple other cases of online harassment of game developers also came to light in the last few years. Several developers
and voice actors of The Last of Us 2, received harassment and death threats following its release; largely centered around
discontent about the main character being depicted as a strong woman with a muscular physique (Hernandez, 2019). Ron
Gilbert, the creator of Return to Monkey Island, was relentlessly abused online by fans who did not like the art style that
was shown in previews of his new release in the series (Troughton, 2022). In an in-depth interview (Mazanko, 2022),
Joe Hobbs, lead prop artist at Ubisoft, and Chris Goodswen, an artist at Ubisoft, disclosed that they have received death
threats in the past over the release of new titles. Estelle Tigani, the Cinematic Producer on God of War Ragnarok, was
subject to online sexual harassment after an announcement of a production delay (Mansoor, 2022).

Page 3 of 16
F1000Research 2023, 11:1518 Last updated: 21 MAR 2023

Why these incidents happen is a multifaceted question. We know from previous work from online harassment that there
are many interpersonal and environmental reasons someone may be motivated to harass another person online – including
lower levels of empathy, the online disinhibition effect, a lack of formal punishment, etc. (Cook, 2019; Cook et al., 2018,
2019; March, 2019). However, there are additional variables to be considered specifically within the context of the
harassment of game makers, such as the lack of clear boundaries between professional and personal social media accounts
belonging to game makers, toxic gaming cultures within the gaming industry, and a lack of diversity within gaming
content and cultures. There has also been research exploring a potential cycle of exclusion in gaming cultures (Fron et al.,
2007; Kowert et al., 2017) and the role of masculinity in studio culture may specifically play in creating a culture of
harassment (Johnson, 2013; 2014).

As noted in the previously mentioned quote from Price, there are often blurred lines between player and creator; making
it difficult to negotiate social boundaries. One aspect of this is a lack of formal delineation between the professional and
personal social media accounts of game makers. This is, at least partially, because many studios do not have formal social
media policies and, if they do, the policies are often unclear about the boundaries between one’s personal and professional
online presence. Today, whilst there remain many different guides available online about the best way for game makers
to engage with game players online, very few (if any) discuss the role of personal and professional boundaries.
Organizational climate can also contribute to the harassment of game makers. Some scholars argue that game companies
themselves are fundamentally toxic within their organizational structure (Bourdreau, 2022) and the games they create
reinforce toxicity through in-game narratives and mechanics (Bergstrom, 2020; Tompkins & Martins, 2021). Some have
argued that this is a result of a cycle that starts in early childhood. Referred to as the “Cycle model of exclusion in gaming
content and cultures” (Kowert et al., 2017), it is agued that early socialization of games as a male activity leads to the
exclusion of non-men in the industry, which creates a male dominated industry and gendered game content and a
normalization of gendered views of the world, including sexist attitudes and beliefs within gaming communities and the
industry itself. This cycle is self-perpetuating. The outcome of this cycle, “toxic cultures”, are particularly concerning as
“toxic cultures” in game studios are often overlooked or denied. As discussed by Price in an interview, “Game companies
are generally unwilling to be honest with themselves about how they’re complicit in creating and sustaining that [toxic]
environment” (Farokhmanesh, 2018).

The “cycle model of exclusion” discussed above would also provide some context for understanding the lack of diversity
in game content and game industry professionals. A lack of diversity among game industry professionals has unques-
tionably contributed to high levels of hate and harassment in gaming spaces and towards game makers specifically (Anti-
Defamation League, 2022; Kowert & Cook, 2022). The global video game industry is overwhelmingly white and male
(Game Developers Association, 2022; International Game Developers Association, 2021), with the self-reported number
of women and people of ethnically and racially marginalized identities being significantly lower than that of the general
US population (International Game Developers Association, 2021). Similar trends are found in the UK, with the most
recent industry report (UKIE, 2022) confirming that most game makers are male (67%), white (66%) and heterosexual
(76%).

Game content itself is another element for consideration, as it can reinforce heterogeneity though the reinforcement
of stereotypes (Burgess et al., 2008). For example, the systematic lack of female characters (Lynch et al., 2016; Williams
et al., 2009) and/or noticeably and disproportionately sexualized female characters (Dill & Thill, 2007). The nature of this
content has been under scrutiny for many years, perhaps most notably by Anita Sarkeesian with her Tropes vs women in
video games YouTube series (Sarkeesian, 2013). The popularity of this video series itself sparked a round of hate and
harassment towards Anita and was a precursor to the 2014 Gamergate movement. Gamergate was arguably the first
famous example of how public backlash by a small subset of people can directly impact the mental health of industry
employees (Mortensen, 2018). It resulted in a psychologically damaging public attack on predominantly female members
of the game industry by a subset of predominantly male fans and developers. This movement, which started in 2014 and
remains problematic today, quickly devolved from baseless accusations to character assassinations, misogyny, hate
speech, and death threats (Campbell, 2014), the repercussions of which were severe. Personal information, including
home addresses of the targets and their families, social security numbers, and even nude photos were posted online,
forcing people from their jobs and their homes (Robertson, 2014). It is worth noting that while game content has become
notably more diverse in the last decade, gaps remain and award-winning and best-selling titles continue to underrepresent
characters with marginalized gender, ethnic, and racial identities (Lopez et al., 2019).

While it is possible to draw the connections between a lack of diversity in the industry to game content and then to online
harassment, little remains known about the extent to which game creators and other online creators are experiencing this
kind of abuse online, and how it impacts their lives, beyond anecdotal evidence (Francis, 2022; Grayson, 2019).
Understanding the prevalence and impact of hate and harassment among industry professionals is the first step towards
understanding how to address the problem.

Page 4 of 16
F1000Research 2023, 11:1518 Last updated: 21 MAR 2023

Current research
Hate and harassment within gaming communities has received a large amount of attention, both publicly and within
scholarly communities. However, less attention has been given to the rising incidences of the harassment of game creators
even though there seem to be disproportionately high rates of hate and harassment in professional gaming spaces,
both within studios and directed at gaming professionals online. To better understand the prevalence and nature of the
harassment of game makers, we conducted a cross-sectional study of game makers via an online survey.

Methods
Setting
The survey was advertised online across social media platforms (Twitter and Facebook) and email lists targeted at game
professionals (e.g., gamesnetwork). The survey was also directly emailed to the authors’ points of contact at several game
studios, from small independent studios to large AAA studios. Data was collected throughout the month of October 2021.

Procedure
The only requirement for participation in this study to be a professional within the games industry at any level. After
providing informed consent, participants were asked a series of questions about their direct and indirect (i.e., witnessed)
experiences with online harassment via social media. All participants completed the questions in the same order. The
survey consisted of six sections: workplace role and culture, direct experiences of harassment, witnessed experiences of
harassment, general experience and impact of harassment, general thoughts about harassment via social media, and
demographic questionnaire. Demographic questions were presented at the end of the survey for all participants to reduce
any potential priming effects for gender or ethnicity.

Measures
Participants were asked to complete the Game Developers Social Media Experience Survey (Kowert & Crevoshay, 2021).
This measure includes a series of questions about harassment via social media. First, they were asked about the kinds of
actions they had experienced, the perceived motivations behind them, any changes in behavior due to the harassment, and
their mental health impact. They were then asked the same series of questions in relation to their indirect (i.e., witnessed)
experiences. Participants were also asked their general thoughts on actions that could mitigate these behaviors in the
future. The full questionnaire can be found in the extended data.

Results
Our survey results, presented below, are openly available in full on the open science framework repository (Kowert &
Crevoshay, 2021).

Participants
In total, 304 participants responded to the online call for participation and completed the survey. 7.2% (22 participants)
were excluded from the final analysis as they indicated that they did not work in the games industry. Of the 282
participants who fully completed the survey, 46.1% worked for an AAA developer, 42.6% for an Indie developer and
11.3% did not work directly within a game studio. Most participants worked in core creation or development roles within
their studio. 17% of participants held management positions and 11% were administrative or ancillary roles. The rest of
the participants were primarily game publishers (3.5%), journalists or critics (1.8%) educators (1.1%) who work with the
gaming industry, game artists (0.7%), or producers of game related events (0.7%). Most participants were White (72.3%),
male (54.8%), aged 26-45 (78.7%), and resided in the United States (50.7%).

Prevalence of harassment
More than half of all participants reported experiencing harassment on social media (59.6%) and nearly all participants
reported witnessing harassment happening to other members of the videogames industry via social media (92.2%). Most
of the reported harassment had been directly experienced (82.1%) and witnessed (94.2%) on Twitter. However, as seen in
Table 1, a significant amount of harassment was reported being experienced and witnessed across platforms. Several
respondents specified “Other” platforms in their responses, including Tumblr, Snapchat, and personal email.

Nature of harassment
Participants were asked to identify which of a series of behaviors they had experienced and witnessed from a list of
eight behaviors: trolling/griefing (deliberate attempts to upset or provoke someone), offensive name-calling, threats of
physical violence (conveying threats of physical or mental injury), stalking (online monitoring and/or information
gathering used to threaten or harass), sexual harassment, discrimination by a stranger due to age, gender, ethnicity, ability
or sexual orientation, doxxing (having personally identifying information made public), swatting (having a stranger make

Page 5 of 16
F1000Research 2023, 11:1518 Last updated: 21 MAR 2023

Table 1. Percentage of experienced and witnessed harassment of game industry professionals across social
media platforms.

Platform Directly experienced Witnessed
Twitter 82.1 94.2
Online forums 51.8 62.7
Facebook 25 36.2
Instagram 17.3 20.4
Discord 6.5 2.3
Twitch 3 2.3
YouTube 2.4 2.3

Table 2. Prevalence of types of harassment experienced and witnessed by game industry professionals on
social media by percentage.

Type of harassment Directly experienced Witnessed
Trolling/griefing 86.3 93.1
Offensive name calling 79.2 91.5
Threats of physical violence 48.2 76.9
Identity-based discrimination 42.9 81.2
Stalking (off- or online) 38.7 56.9
Sustained harassment 39.9 63.1
Doxxing 25.6 53.5
Swatting 3 21.9

a false report to emergency services to target someone), and sustained harassment (harassment that occurs over multiple
instances or a longer period of time).

More than half of all participants reported experiencing harassment on social media (59.6%) and nearly all participants
reported witnessing harassment happening to other members of the videogames industry via social media (92.2%). The
type of harassment directly experienced and witnessed by members of the gaming industry ranged from offensive name-
calling to sustained harassment, to one incidence of an entire website being created mimicking an alternate history to
one’s life. Several participants reported “Other” forms of harassment as well, including threats to one's job, impersonation
attempts through the creation of fake social media profiles, hacked social media accounts, and violent physical assault.
The rates of the most common forms of harassment, both directly experienced and witnessed, is presented in Table 2.

Trolling/griefing (broadly defined as deliberate attempts to provoke someone) were the most common form of
harassment reported, followed by offensive name calling. Identity based harassment was experienced by 42.9% of
participants.

Nearly one in two participants reported experiencing threats of physical violence, with three out of four participants
having witnessed threats of physical violence directed at another member of the industry. Stalking was also experienced
(38.7%) and witnessed (56.9%) by a large percentage of participants. Sustained harassment, defined as harassment that
occurs over multiple instances or over time, was experienced (39.9%) and witnessed (63.1%) by almost half of everyone
surveyed. Doxxing, which refers to one's personal information being shared online and is considered one of the most
severe forms of online harassment, was experienced by a quarter of all participants (25.6%) and witnessed by more than
half (53.5%). Swatting, which is when a stranger makes a prank call to emergency services to have them dispatched to you
and was the most severe form of online harassment on the list of selections, had been witnessed by more than one in five
individuals (21.9%).

Motivation of harassment
When asked what they thought the motivating factors behind the harassment were, a variety of responses were selected.
The most popular included: being a public figure in the games community (47.9%); identity-based harassment (46.1%);
Page 6 of 16
F1000Research 2023, 11:1518 Last updated: 21 MAR 2023

Table 3. Perceived motivating factors for harassment of game industry professionals through social media by
percentage.

Motivating factor Directly experienced Witnessed
Being a public figure in games 47.9 73.0
Identity based harassment 46.1 77.2
Games industry generally (not studio specific) 43.1 55.2
General reputation of a specific studio 35.9 59.5
A recent game release 37.1 64.5

the norms of the games industry generally independent of the game studio one works for (38.3%); displeasure towards a
recent game release (37.1%) and the general reputation of working for a particular studio (35.9%). A similar proportion of
responses were found when asked about what they believed motivated their witnessed experiences of harassment. These
findings are presented in Table 3.

Response to harassment
As a direct target, participants reported varying degrees of response to online harassment. Blocking and reporting (85.1%)
and ignoring the comment or behavior (83.3%) were the most common responses. Many also reported that they
confronted or challenged the harasser (33.3%) and shared information about the experience with others (26.2%). Almost
one-third (29.2%) of participants noted that they contacted their workplace for information on how to respond and/or to
seek support. 43.3% of all participants reported that they have attempted to hide an aspect of their identity (e.g., age,
gender, ethnicity, ability) because of being targeted by hate.

As a witness to online harassment, participants most often blocked or reported the person (84%), followed by ignoring the
comment (49.4%). As was found when being the direct target, just about one-third of participants reported that they
directly confronted or challenged the offender (30.4%) and shared information about the experience with others (34.6%).
Only 17.5% of participants reported that they sought information from their workplace about how to respond and/or seek
support when witnessing online harassment of others in the gaming industry.

Impact of harassment
Participants reported that being a direct target and/or directly witnessing online harassment has had a significant impact
on their mental health and offline behavior. In terms of mental health, most participants reported feeling uncomfortable
or upset (77.7%). Most participants reported increased anxiety (62.1%) and being less social (51.1%). Around a third of
participants reported feeling more isolated or alone (37.6%) and increased depression (36.2%). Almost one quarter
(23.8%) reported symptoms related to post-traumatic stress disorder. One out of 10 participants reported suicidal thoughts
because of online harassment.

In terms of offline behavior, many participants reported it had negatively impacted their work performance (41.1%), they
had sought professional psychological help (27.3%), and had personal relationships disrupted (22%). Just about a third
reported they had to take steps to reduce risk to their physical safety (37.2%). One out of 10 participants had contacted the
police because of online harassment. These results are summarized in Table 4.

Policy and support considerations
Around half of all participants reported that their studio had a policy about online harassment already in place (47.5%);
however, most did not have support structures in place around online harassment specifically (58.5%).

Most respondents believe that gaming companies should have stronger policies in place around hate and harassment
(87.2%). Most respondents believe that the games industry contributes to the ease with which people engage in online
hate and harassment (62.4%) and should be doing more to support employees being targeted by online hate and
harassment (92.2%). The way that social media works is also believed to contribute to the ease with which people
engage in online hate and harassment (96.5%) and respondents think social media companies should be doing more to
support people being targeted online (93.7%). Most respondents (80.1%) believe laws need to be created to enact
consequences around online harassment. These numbers are significantly higher than those reported by the ADL from a
survey of the overall game playing population in 2021, who found only 68% of respondents believe games companies
should be doing more to support people being targeted by online hate, with 59% endorsing the need to create new laws
being developed to address hate and harassment online.

Page 7 of 16
F1000Research 2023, 11:1518 Last updated: 21 MAR 2023

Table 4. Impact of online harassment among game industry professionals by percentage.

Impact of harassment %
Mental health impact
Felt uncomfortable 77.8
Been less social 51.4
Felt isolated/alone 38
Increased depression 36.6
Behavioral impact
Taken steps to reduce risk to physical safety 37.3
Occupational performance negatively impacted 41.5
Contacted police 10.2

Discussion
The harassment of game makers through social media is a growing concern. This study looked at the prevalence and
nature of online harassment among game makers to better understand the scope of this problem. Results indicated high
rates of online harassment, both direct and indirect, among members of the gaming industry at all levels. Responses also
pointed to substantial mental health and behavioral impacts of both experiencing and witnessing online harassment.
Notably, the harassment of game makers seems directly tied to a lack of diversity within the industry, as evidenced by the
ubiquity of identity-based harassment.

The impact of hate and harassment of game makers appears to be more severe than found among a general game playing
population. As reported by the ADL in 2019, less than one-third of their respondents reported feeling uncomfortable or
upset (31%), felt isolated or alone (14%), took steps to reduce risk to physical safety (12%). depressive or suicidal
thoughts (11%), or had their occupational performance negatively impacted (13%). Comparable outcomes between game
makers and the general game playing population (as reported by the ADL) are presented in Table 5. This may be, at least
partially, due to the high rates of the more severe forms of harassment, doxxing and swatting, being reported by game
makers.

The prevalence of the more severe forms of harassment are noteworthy when compared to the frequency at which
these behaviors occur within the general gaming community, specifically doxxing and swatting. As reported by Kowert
and Cook (2022), of the general game playing population, 11.1% had experienced doxxing directly, and 24.1% had
witnessed it happen to someone else. In this analysis, we found 25.6% of game makers report a direct experience and
53.5% reporting directly witnessing, respectively. For swatting, similar numbers of direct experience are found among
the general game playing population (3%) and members of the gaming industry (3%), however far more industry
members have witnessed swatting (21.9%) than among the general population (1.5%). We postulate that one of the causes
of these higher rates among industry members is because awareness of this phenomenon is higher among this population.

Table 5. Impact of online harassment on game players (ADL, 2019*) and game makers by percentage.

Type of Harassment Game players Game makers
Mental health impact
Felt uncomfortable 31 77.8
Been less social 16 51.4
Felt isolated/alone 14 38
Increased depression 11 36.6
Behavioral impact
Taken steps to reduce risk to physical safety 12 37.3
Occupational performance negatively impacted 13 41.5
Contacted police 9 10.2
*Information is drawn from ADL (2019) but percentages are attributed to a 2020 data collection.

Page 8 of 16
F1000Research 2023, 11:1518 Last updated: 21 MAR 2023

Notably, threats of physical violence are similar between industry members (48.2%) and the general game playing
population (46.8%), suggesting that these behaviors may be more endemic to gaming cultures rather than something
specific to members of the gaming industry.

While the results of this work are noteworthy, there are limitations to consider. First, the sample was recruited primarily
via social media. It is possible that this led to an oversampling of those most active on social media and, as such, these
findings may be over-representative of the proportion of game industry professionals who have experienced or witnessed
harassment through these platforms. Future work should aim to recruit samples through studios directly to obtain a
more representative sample. Secondly, most participants within the sample worked in core creation or development roles
within the studio. However, we know harassment towards industry professionals can happen to those in any role and at
any level. Future work should aim to sample more professionals in different areas of the gaming industry to better evaluate
the frequency and impact of these behaviors across job functions. Lastly, this work was developed to be exploratory, with
the aim of providing a broad overview of what harassment via social media looks like for game industry professionals.
Future work should build upon these findings to evaluate any potential points of intersectionality between harassment
experiences, mental health impact, role within the industry, and demographic factors.

Conclusions
Harassment of game industry professionals is a large problem with most people in the game industry having directly
experienced some form being directed at them specifically. This harassment can be (and often is) magnified if the
person is a marginalized voice, with over half of all respondents saying they were targets of hate because of some aspect of
their identity. The harassment has a negative impact on industry members’ feelings of comfort, isolation, wellbeing, and
job performance. Many game makers also recognize the need for more policy change to better address this growing issue.
Games leadership need to create stronger policies around hate and harassment of their employees, delineate clearer social
boundaries between game maker and game player, and provide greater mental health support should their employees
become targets of online harassment. Without large-scale action to address the norms of interaction between developers
and fans, this problem will continue to drive people out of the industry and reinforce the lack of diversity inside game
studios, pushing out marginalized employees due to a hostile work environment.

However, we are hopeful that these first steps are being taken as, in 2022, Bungie, a major game studio based in
Washington State, filed a lawsuit against a Destiny 2 player and streamer who had harassed and threatened staff
members (Good, 2022). Many game studios have also started to speak publicly about zero tolerance for the harassment
of their employees, including, most recently, Respawn. Respawn saw a marked increase in harassment after dealing
with a crashing issue in their game Apex Legends, as well as an AMA (Ask Me Anything chat on Reddit) about the
game (Respawn (@Respawn), 2022). It will take more than Twitter statements for these norms to change, but the public
pushback from game studios is a relatively recent development, a marked shift from the perspective of ArenaNet CEO
Mike O’Brien in 2018 that developers “must be friends” with players. The authors hope that this shift marks the beginning
of an era of more comprehensive response and proactive support of people who make games by their employers.

There is also a growing number of researchers in this space actively seeking strategies for victims of online harassment
to better mitigate the negative mental health impacts and avenues for support (Cote, 2016; Tang et al., 2019). Drawing
from this research and work from other disciplines, such as the online harassment of female journalists (Ferrier & Garud-
Paktar, 2018), we can begin to develop effective reporting strategies, support structures for the victims, and tools to
dismantle the systems for harassment.

However, while change can, and should include, greater institutional support, this isn’t the starting point for sustainable
change. In efforts across the industry, we are starting to see game studios make the connection between the people in the
room, making decisions about game content, mechanics, and marketing and the resulting harassment. With this shift to
more diversity, and with the newfound sense of responsibility that game makers have towards their employees, we can
begin to see the seeds of a sustainable and substantive change in both the expectations and incidence of harassment of
people who makes games and of other players. We firmly believe a more diverse group of people making games that work
well for a more diverse player base is the first step towards a more inclusive and less hateful environment.

Consent
To retain data integrity and anonymity, the survey data was collected and retained on private servers hosted by Take This.
Participant responses were anonymized and no identifying information was collected.

Data availability
OSF: ‘Game Developers Social Media Experience Survey’. DOI: https://osf.io/5bd4g/ (Kowert & Crevoshay, 2021)

Page 9 of 16
F1000Research 2023, 11:1518 Last updated: 21 MAR 2023

Data are available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC-BY 4.0).

Underlying data
The project contains the following underlying data:

- Data collection 2021, Game Developers Social Media Experience Survey (internet recruitment).csv (raw data)

Extended data
This project contains the following extended data:

- Game Developers Social Media Experience Survey, (Game Developers Social Media Experience Survey.pdf)

References

Anti-Defamation League: Hate is No Game: Harassment and Positive Social Game Developers Association: 2022 State of the Game Industry. 2022.
Experiences in Online Games 2021. 2022. Good OS: Bungie sues Destiny 2 streamer alleged to cheat, harass
Reference Source employees. Polygon. 2022, July 18.
Beres NA, Frommel J, Reid E, et al.: Don’t you know that you’re toxic: Reference Source
Normalization of toxicity in online gaming. Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Grayson N: For streamers dealing with stalkers, Twitch’s solutions fall
Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '21). Association for short. Kotaku. 2019.
Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA,. 2021; 1–15. Article 438. Reference Source
Publisher Full Text
Hernandez P: Overwatch artist says Sigma’s bare feet meant to ‘sell
Bergstrom K: Destruction as deviant leisure in EVE online. J. Virtual the asylum look’. Polygon. 2019.
Worlds Res. 2020; 13(1). Reference Source
Publisher Full Text
International Game Developers Association: Developer Satisfaction Survey
Bourdreau K: Beyond deviance: toxic gaming culture and the potential 2021. 2021.
for positive change. Crit. Stud. Media Commun. 2022; 39(3): 181–190.
Publisher Full Text Johnson RS: Toward greater production diversity: Examining social
boundries at a video game studio. Games Cult. 2013; 8(3): 136–160.
Bryter: 2020. Female Gamer Survey 2020. Bryter - Female Gamers Survey 2020. Publisher Full Text
pdf Bryter - Female Gamers Survey 2020.pdf (bryter-research.co.uk).
Johnson RS: Hiding in plain sight: Reproducing masuline culture at a
Burgess MCR, Dill KE, Stermer P, et al. : Playing with prejudice: The video game studio. Communication. Cult. Crit. 2014; 7(4): 578–594.
prevalence and consequences of racial stereotypes in video games. Publisher Full Text
Media Psychol. 2008; 3: 289–311.
Kowert R, Crevoshay E: Game Developers Social Media Experience Survey. 2021.
Campbell C: Sarkeesian driven out of home by online abuse and death Reference Source
threats. Polygon. 2014.
Reference Source Kowert R, Breuer J, Quandt T: Women are from FarmVille, Men are from
ViceCity: The cycle of exclusion and sexism in video game content and
Campbell C: ArenaNet ‘folded like a cheap card table,’ says fired Guild culture. Kowert R, Quandt T, editors. New Perspectives on the Social Aspects
Wars 2 writer. Polygon. 2018. of Digital Gaming: Multiplayer 2. Routledge; 2017; (pp. 136–152).
Reference Source
Kowert R, Cook C: The toxicity of our (virtual) cities: Prevalence of dark
Cook C: Between a troll and a hard place: the demand framework’s participation in games and perceived effectiveness of reporting tools.
answer to one of gaming’s biggest problems. Media Commun. 2019; 7(4): Proceedings of the 55th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.
176–185. 2022.
Publisher Full Text
Lopez JA, Cole AM, Campbell A, et al.: Diversity in Gaming. 2019.
Cook C, Conijn R, Antheunis M, et al.: For whom the gamer trolls: A study
of trolling interactions in the online gaming context. J. Comput.-Mediat. Lynch T, Tompkins JE, van Driel I, et al.: Sexy, strong, and secondary:
Commun. 2019; 24: 293–318. A content analysis of female characters in video games across 31
Publisher Full Text years. J. Commun. 2016; 66(4): 564–584.
Publisher Full Text
Cook C, Schaafsma J, Antheunis M: Under the bridge: an in-depth
examination of online trolling in the gaming context. New Media Soc. Mansoor A: God of War developers sexually harassed due to
2018; 20(9): 3323–3340. announcement delay. Exputer. Retrieved from. Exputer. 2022.
PubMed Abstract|Publisher Full Text March E: Psychopathy, sadism, empathy, and the motivation to cause
Cote A: “I can defend myself”: Women’s strategies for coping with harm: New evidence confirms malevolent nature of the internet troll.
harassment while gaming online. Games Cult. 2016; 12(2). Pers. Individ. Dif. 2019; 141: 133–137.
Publisher Full Text Publisher Full Text

Dill K, Thill KP: Video Game Characters and the Socilization of Gender Mazanko V: Ubisoft artist says entitled gamers make game launches
Roles: Young People’s Perceptions Mirror Sexist Media Depictions. “a horrid experience”. The Gamer. 2022.
Sex Roles. 2007; 57: 851–864. Reference Source .
Publisher Full Text Mortensen TE: Anger, fear, and games: The long event of #GamerGate.
Fagan K: I felt helpless - the IRL impact of harassment in gaming. Games Cult. 2018; 13(8): 787–806.
YR Media. 2021; Publisher Full Text
Reference Source Respawn (@Respawn): Recently we have seen increased harassment towards
Farokhmanesh M: Guild Wars studio fires two employees after clash members of our development team. 2022.
with streamer. The Verge. 2018. Robertson A: What’s happening in GamerGate? The Verge. 2014,
Reference Source October.
Ferrier M, Garud-Paktar N: TrollBusters: Fighting Online Harassment of Reference Source
Women Journalists. Mediating Misogyny. 2018; pp. 311–332. Sarkeesian A: Damsel in Distress: Part 1 (A. Sarkeesian (ed.)). Feminist
Publisher Full Text Frequency. 2013.
Francis B: More developers are pushing back against player toxicity. Reference Source
Game Developer. 2022. Tang WY, Reer F, Quandt T: Investigating sexual harassment in online
Reference Source video games: How personality and context factors are related to toxic
Fron J, Fullerton T, Morie JF, et al.: The Hegemony of Play. Situated Play, sexual behaviors against fellow players. Aggress. Behav. 2019; 46(1):
Proceedings of DiGRA 2007 Conference. 2007; pp. 1–10. 127–135.
PubMed Abstract|Publisher Full Text
Gach E: Boyfriend Dungeon voice actor responds to harassment over
playing a villan. Kotaku. 2021. Tompkins JE, Martins N: Masculine pleasures as normalized practices:
Reference Source Character design in the video game industry. Games Cult. 2021; 17(3).

Page 10 of 16
F1000Research 2023, 11:1518 Last updated: 21 MAR 2023

Troughton J: Ron Gilbert “Won’t be posting anymore” about Return to Williams D, Martins N, Consalvo M, et al.: The virtual census:
Monkey Island following abuse. The Gamer. 2022, June. Representations of gender, race and age in video games. New Media
Reference Source Soc. 2009; 11(5): 815–834.
UKIE: UK Games Industry Census. 2022. Publisher Full Text
Reference Source

Page 11 of 16
F1000Research 2023, 11:1518 Last updated: 21 MAR 2023

Open Peer Review
Current Peer Review Status:

Version 2

Reviewer Report 21 March 2023

https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.143119.r161074

© 2023 Cote A. This is an open access peer review report distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited.

Amanda Cote
School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA

In response to my original feedback, the authors have made many small changes to update how
this piece refers to/draws on additional existing work. I appreciate their thoughtfulness and how
they have adjusted the article while still remaining concise and attentive to the word limits.

Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.

Reviewer Expertise: Games, gender, identity, audience studies, media industry studies

I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of
expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard.

Version 1

Reviewer Report 04 January 2023

https://doi.org/10.5256/f1000research.139461.r158166

Amanda Cote
School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA

This study employs an online survey of 282 gamesworkers to assess their direct and witnessed
experiences with harassment. It breaks down the types and prevalence of harassment they have

Page 12 of 16
F1000Research 2023, 11:1518 Last updated: 21 MAR 2023

experienced or witnessed, the perceived motivations of harassers, and the impacts harassment
has had on themselves and others in terms of mental and physical health. Overall, this study is
clearly conducted and written, with good attention to limitations. It also addresses a newer and
significant aspect of harassment and toxicity in gaming communities and cultures. There is little to
no academic work currently addressing the harassment of game makers, although a lot of
anecdotal evidence shows that it occurs frequently and significantly.

There are only a few small things I would like to see the researchers consider moving forward.

First, the literature review could benefit from slightly clearer organization and attention to the
broader history of harassment directed at gamesworkers. The piece opens with recent examples
of harassment (pg. 1-2), stating, “The harassment of game makers first made its way into the spotlight
when former Guild Wars 2 narrative designer Jessica Price’s was fired from ArenaNet after engaging in a
Twitter exchange with a player.” This event, however, did not occur until 2018; the harassment of
game makers, especially female ones, and public recognition of these issues predate this event by
several years, at minimum - e.g., Jennifer Hepler’s harassment at Bioware in 2012-2013,
GamerGate, etc. Some of these events come up later in the article, but it would be useful to note
and trace some of this broader trajectory (and the role of identity) from the start. Harassment in
the games industry is not a new issue! This only makes it more in need of studies like this.
Similarly, it’s worth briefly noting the intellectual development of concepts such as the cycle of
exclusion in gaming. These also date back until at least the early 2000s (e.g., Fron et al. (2007)1),
and that labor should be recognized. Other work on the industry, such as Robin Johnson’s studies
of masculinity in studio culture, would also be useful here (see suggested citations at end2,3).

Second, the content analysis section (pg. 4, lack of representation in games) could benefit from
some more updated stats, such as those by Lynch et al. (2016).4

Finally, the analysis and discussion could benefit from more connections back to existing work on
industry, as well as on players’ experience with harassment and their means for coping with this.
The ADL data is useful, but there are also many critical analyses of these issues that fit the survey
data well and could be tied in. The results of this study are important and meaningful; be sure to
situate them within the field effectively to demonstrate this to the fullest extent.

Suggested Citations:
○Fron, J., Fullerton, T., Morie, J. F., & Pearce, C. (2007). 'The Hegemony of Play'. Situated Play,
Proceedings of DiGRA 2007 Conference1

○ Johnson, R. S. (2013). 'Toward Greater Production Diversity: Examining Social Boundaries at
a Video Game Studio'. Games and Culture2

○ Johnson, R. (2014). 'Hiding in Plain Sight: Reproducing Masculine Culture at a Video Game
Studio'. Communication, Culture & Critique3

○ Lynch, T., Tompkins, J. E., van Driel, I. I., & Fritz, N. (2016). 'Sexy, Strong, and Secondary: A
Content Analysis of Female Characters in Video Games across 31 Years'. Journal of
Communication4

Page 13 of 16
F1000Research 2023, 11:1518 Last updated: 21 MAR 2023

References
1. Fron J, Fullerton T, Morie JF, Pearce C: The Hegemony of Play. Situated Play, Proceedings of DiGRA
2007 Conference. 2007. 1-10 Reference Source
2. Johnson R: Toward Greater Production Diversity. Games and Culture. 2013; 8 (3): 136-160
Publisher Full Text
3. Johnson R: Hiding in Plain Sight: Reproducing Masculine Culture at a Video Game Studio.
Communication, Culture & Critique. 2014; 7 (4): 578-594 Publisher Full Text
4. Lynch T, Tompkins J, van Driel I, Fritz N: Sexy, Strong, and Secondary: A Content Analysis of
Female Characters in Video Games across 31 Years. Journal of Communication. 2016; 66 (4): 564-584
Publisher Full Text

Is the work clearly and accurately presented and does it cite the current literature?
Partly

Is the study design appropriate and is the work technically sound?
Yes

Are sufficient details of methods and analysis provided to allow replication by others?
Yes

If applicable, is the statistical analysis and its interpretation appropriate?
Yes

Are all the source data underlying the results available to ensure full reproducibility?
Yes

Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the results?
Yes

Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.

Reviewer Expertise: Games, gender, identity, audience studies, media industry studies

I confirm that I have read this submission and believe that I have an appropriate level of
expertise to confirm that it is of an acceptable scientific standard, however I have
significant reservations, as outlined above.

Author Response 10 Jan 2023
Rachel Kowert

Reviewer's comment: First, the literature review could benefit from slightly clearer
organization and attention to the broader history of harassment directed at gamesworkers.
The piece opens with recent examples of harassment (pg. 1-2), stating, “The harassment of
game makers first made its way into the spotlight when former Guild Wars 2 narrative
designer Jessica Price’s was fired from ArenaNet after engaging in a Twitter exchange with a
player.” This event, however, did not occur until 2018; the harassment of game makers,

Page 14 of 16
F1000Research 2023, 11:1518 Last updated: 21 MAR 2023

especially female ones, and public recognition of these issues predate this event by several
years, at minimum - e.g., Jennifer Hepler’s harassment at Bioware in 2012-2013, GamerGate,
etc. Some of these events come up later in the article, but it would be useful to note and
trace some of this broader trajectory (and the role of identity) from the start. Harassment in
the games industry is not a new issue!
Author's response: The reviewer is correct in that this is not a new issue. Highlighting the
event with Jessica Price was meant more to illustrate this is when the discussion of the
harassment of game makers moved out of more niche communities and whisper networks
and towards a more broad acknowledgement of its existence within this industry
specifically. The wording has been changed slightly in the introduction to reflect this.
Specifically, the following text has been added:

While the harassment of game makers (especially female ones) has been a very real issue for
many years, in 2018 we started to see discussions of these behaviors within a broader public
spotlight when former Guild Wars 2 narrative designer Jessica Price was fired from ArenaNet
after engaging in a Twitter exchange with a player.

Reviewer's comment: Similarly, it’s worth briefly noting the intellectual development of
concepts such as the cycle of exclusion in gaming. These also date back until at least the
early 2000s (e.g., Fron et al. (2007)1), and that labor should be recognized. Other work on
the industry, such as Robin Johnson’s studies of masculinity in studio culture, would also be
useful here (see suggested citations at end2,3).
Author’s response: The aim of this paper is not to explore why these events happen but
rather shed light on their frequency and mental health impact. That said, the text has been
amended to recognize that there has been work in this space examining the potential
underpinning motivations/causes for this behavior. Specifically, the following text has been
added:

There has also been research exploring a potential cycle of exclusion in gaming cultures (Fron et
al., 2007; Kowert et al, 2017) and the role masculinity in studio culture may specifically play in
creating a culture of harassment (Johnson, 2013; 2014).

The cycle of exclusion in gaming culture is also more formally described later in the paper.
Specifically with the following passage:

Some have argued that this is a result of a cycle that starts in early childhood. Referred to as the
“Cycle Model of Exclusion in Gaming Content and Cultures,” (Kowert et al., 2017), it is believed
that early socialization of games as a male activity leads to the exclusion of non-men in the
industry, which creates a male dominated industry and gendered game content and a
normalization of gendered views of the world including sexist attitudes and beliefs within gaming
communities and the industry itself. This cycle is self-perpetuating.

Reviewer's comment: Second, the content analysis section (pg. 4, lack of representation in
games) could benefit from some more updated stats, such as those by Lynch et al. (2016).4
Author's response: Thank you for this suggestion! Lynch et al. (2016) has been added as a
reference in that section.

Page 15 of 16
F1000Research 2023, 11:1518 Last updated: 21 MAR 2023

Reviewer's comment: the analysis and discussion could benefit from more connections
back to existing work on industry, as well as on players’ experience with harassment and
their means for coping with this. The ADL data is useful, but there are also many critical
analyses of these issues that fit the survey data well and could be tied in. The results of this
study are important and meaningful; be sure to situate them within the field effectively to
demonstrate this to the fullest extent.
Author’s response: We agree that situating this work within the context of the ongoing
work within this field is important. We lean heavily on the ADL work here as it is publicly
available data looking at a broad range of experiences and impact. While it can be useful to
draw on work looking at player harassment, the harassment of game makers is something
that needs to be examined through a more nuanced lens because of the additional
contextual factors that are specific to this experience among game developers (studio
culture, lack of personal/professional boundaries, personal and professional consequences
to action and inaction).

That said, additional text has been added to better contextualize this work and lend more
insight into potential solutions and strategies. Specifically, the following text has been
added:

There is also a growing number of researchers in this space actively seeking strategies for victims
of online harassment to better mitigate the negative mental health impacts and avenues for
support (Cote, 2016; Tang et al., 2019). Drawing from this research and work from other
disciplines, such as the online harassment of female journalists (Ferrier & Garud-Paktar, 2019),
we can begin to develop effective reporting strategies, support structures for the victims, and
tools to dismantle the systems for harassment.

Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed.

The benefits of publishing with F1000Research:

• Your article is published within days, with no editorial bias

• You can publish traditional articles, null/negative results, case reports, data notes and more

• The peer review process is transparent and collaborative

• Your article is indexed in PubMed after passing peer review

• Dedicated customer support at every stage

For pre-submission enquiries, contact research@f1000.com

Page 16 of 16