The million dollar question: What is #GamerGate? You ask the people actively using the hashtag, you get one answer; ask the women being harassed and threatened out of their homes, and you’ll get something entirely different. Why? Because #GamerGate means so many different things it’s hard to keep track of it all.
So what is #GamerGate?
#GamerGate is many things.
#GamerGate is a message that gamers are unhappy with something in both the video game enthusiast press and video game development industries.
#GamerGate is a question about the ethical standards of video game journalism.
#GamerGate is a question about the relationships of video game journalists with other video game journalists.
#GamerGate is a question about the relationships between video game journalists and game developers.
#GamerGate is a battle against the ideals of “Social Justice Warriors.”
#GamerGate is an outcry for objectivity in all criticism.
#GamerGate is a campaign formed by a group of people on the internet who have a history of harassment against women.
#GamerGate is a constantly shifting goalpost used by a group of people on the Internet harassing those who have different opinions or ideas than them.
#GamerGate is a vile harassment campaign against feminists and those who critique video games for not treating genders and races with equality.
#GamerGate is not what you think it is and everything you think it is. That is the problem.
#GamerGate is broken.
#GamerGate is a hate group.
If you boil #GamerGate down into two distinct points it would be:
1) #GamerGate is a campaign of harassment against women in the video game industry. This origin point for this entire event can be linked directly to the doxxing (posting of personal information online) and harassment against Zoe Quinn, Anita Sarkeesian, and — most recently — Brianna Wu. Additionally, Jenn Frank and Mattie Brice have received plenty of harassment. Both Frank and Brice have stated that they will no longer write about video games. Notable game designer Phil Fish was harassed out of the industry entirely after tweeting out in support of Zoe Quinn. Leigh Alexander has been the target of indirect harassment as a part of #GamerGate’s attempts to remove advertisers from her works. Many game journalists who have spoken out in support of equality between sexes in video games have been branded “Social Justice Warriors” — the coolest name meant to be used as an insult.
2) #GamerGate is a campaign to expose the ethical corruption of video game journalism. Many gamers who support the hashtag have said it is to raise awareness in a fight against corruption in games journalism. GamerGaters claim video games journalism is far too connected to independent games development, that close-knit friendships with journalists and developers leads to biased reporting. This is what I have been told directly:
(The second photo is a link to an infographic stating #GamerGate is about “transparency and ethics reform” and is a call to action for people to “[H]elp us improve journalism, ensure judging is fair, and keep political agendas out of our games and media!”)
Even the “ethics” ideology doesn’t capture the full spectrum of #GamerGate complaints. GamerGaters oppose Social Justice Warriors, who they see as imposing their morality onto gaming culture. They have conflicting definitions of “ethics”. They claim that anything but objective games criticism is “unethical”. It’s all too muddled and the “ethics” argument doesn’t hold any weight once you start peeling back the layers behind #GamerGate.
Through the entries of this blog I will attempt to shine a light at the past and present of #GamerGate. I will attempt to show how the conversation has reached a point where nothing will ever be accomplished. #GamerGate means too many things to too many different people and there is no common ground. It doesn’t work. The voices in support of the hashtag are too scattered and too accusatory and too arrogant to make an impact. The message they are sending has been mostly negative and offensive.
The voices in opposition of the hashtag are tired of being harassed and dealing with the rampant sexism that comes from the other side. One side claims misogyny, the other corruption. #GamerGate means both of those things — and that’s the problem. The hashtag is broken, and those who support the underlying questions of ethics and journalism quality but decry the treatment of women should be ashamed and abandon the hashtag for a more productive conversation.
All that has happened and all that will continue to happen is a bunch of people on the internet shouting at brick walls, hoping they will eventually fall down.
