![]() There are several environmental and community factors to consider when discussing toxic behavior in online spaces and, specifically, within online games. ![]() These are discussed in more detail below. Research has pointed to several environmental, community, demographic, and game play factors that contribute to the creation and sustainment of toxicity in games and gamer cultures. Why toxic gamer cultures have developed is a question many scholars have attempted to answer. Some researchers have gone so far as to predict that the normalization of these behaviors within gamer culture could eventually shift and/or sustain cultural norms toward eventually seeing harassment in-games as harmless and acceptable ( Ross and Weaver, 2012 Page et al., 2016). At its root, the idea of “toxic gamer cultures” refers to prevalence of deviant behaviors within games but also readily dismissing one’s responsibility for them under the shared idea that it is just part of the “anonymous and toxic gamer” collective identity ( Tang and Fox, 2016). These communities of exclusion and hostility have come to be housed under the umbrella of “toxic gamer cultures,” a phenomenon that is quite well known in gaming communities. “Though the gaming world is huge and diverse, and full of smart and wonderful players, it is also thronged by misogynists and racists who feel free to advocate harm against anyone who’s not like them.” Similarly, in a Wu (2019) article, Brianna Wu states: “As events like the 2014 harassment campaign #GamerGate amply demonstrated, to some members of the gaming community, the increased visibility of people of color, women, and LGBTQ people in gaming circles is seen less as an expansion and more as a hostile takeover.” Four years later, these same sentiments were discussed by Condis (2018) New York Times op-ed: This shift was noted by Golding in 2014 with his op-ed “The End of Gamers.” In it, he discussed the shifts in video game cultures away from inclusivity and toward combativeness. Over time, however, gamer cultures have grown into what is largely discussed as “toxic cultures” and come to become more associated with exclusion than inclusion if you don’t fit a certain mold. We express our “gamerness” with our choice of clothing, the references we make, and how we view ourselves, others, and our place in the world. Today, “gamer” is part of everyday jargon and widely integrated into personal, social, and cultural identities ( Grooten and Kowert, 2015). That is, all gamers are players, but not all players are gamers. Today, this term not only represents players but differentiates “gamers” as their own subcultural movement ( Golding, 2014 Grooten and Kowert, 2015). However, with the popularization and growth of games themselves, the term “gamer” has also grown and changed. As part of a socio-cultural niche, “gamer” was established to define and unite this group of people. A “gamer” became a new social category for the group of individuals who played video games (primarily in arcades) in the late 1970’s. With the advent of digital games came the advent of gamer cultures and identities. It is critical to establish a shared language about what these behaviors are in order to effectively understand and combat them. This includes defining these behaviors, cataloging their variants, and discussing their social and psychological impact and their potential underpinnings. This article provides the first comprehensive cataloging and overview of dark participation in games. Despite its prevalence, deviant behaviors in games as a subject of academic study is a confusing space, with different researchers using different criteria to describe the same things. Over time, however, gamer cultures have grown into what is largely discussed as “toxic cultures,” and come to become more associated with exclusion than inclusion if you don’t fit a certain mold. A “gamer” became a new social first for the group of individuals who played video games (primarily in arcades) in the late 1970’s. ![]() Independent Researcher, Take This, Seattle, WA, United States.
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