Destruction as Deviant Leisure in EVE Online

Bergstrom, Kelly

doi:10.4101/jvwr.v13i1.7403

“…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.…”

Section: Revised Amendments From Versionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harassment of game makers: Prevalence and impact

Kowert¹,

Crevoshay²

2023

F1000Res

2

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Background: Online harassment is a relatively commonplace occurrence in the video gaming industry and player communities. A lack of diversity has unquestionably contributed to the high levels of such incidences. Methods: In this paper, we take an exploratory approach, via a cross-sectional observational study, to evaluate the harassment of game 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 harassment, and the ways in which a lack of diversity has contributed to this phenomenon. Results: In total, 282 video game industry professionals completed the survey in its entirety. More than half of all participants reported 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.

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“…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.…”

Section: Harassment Of Game Makersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Harassment of game makers: Prevalence and impact

Kowert¹,

Crevoshay²

2022

F1000Res

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Online harassment is a relatively commonplace occurrence in the video gaming industry and player communities. A lack of diversity has unquestionably contributed to the high levels of such incidences. Methods: In this paper, we take an exploratory approach, via a cross-sectional observational study, to evaluate the harassment of game 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 harassment, and the ways in which a lack of diversity has contributed to this phenomenon. Results: In total, 282 video game industry professionals completed the survey in its entirety. More than half of all participants reported 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.

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2023

Is Justice Real When �reality� Is Not?

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Destruction as Deviant Leisure in EVE Online

Cited by 8 publications

References 27 publications

Harassment of game makers: Prevalence and impact

Harassment of game makers: Prevalence and impact

Harassment of game makers: Prevalence and impact

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