Patch 1.1: Gamergate

I cannot begin to count how many, 

"Women belong in the kitchen, not playing video games."

Or

“I hope your boyfriend beats you. Nah, you can't get a boyfriend.”

Ah Gamergate...August 2014.
One hell of a month in the video game community.
We really showed our ass that month.

It opened up a discussion that really should've a an issue in the first place.

But alas, here  we are.

It all started over a relationship what went south. Meet Eron Gjoni,

Eron Gjoni

a programmer who wrote a series of blogs about the end of this relationship with an indie, or independent, game developer Zoe Quinn. 

Quinn was accused of sleeping with a video game journalist named Nathan Grayson, in exchanged for positive reviews for her game Depression Quest.

Which claim was completely false, which Gjoni later acknowledged. 

Zoe Quinn

The one-sided feud between Gjoni and Quinn continued to escalate over time and eventually Gjoni began posting blogs regarding Quinn’s sexual history along with nude photos. These photos began to appear on messages boards and chat programs like 4chan.

Quinn received constant death threats to a point where she was forced to leave her home, fearing for her life.

The supporters of Gjoni (We will call Gjoni-ers) took matters in their own hands and took it further and began discussing how they could get Quinn to commit suicide.

Meet Anita Sarkessian, a critic who speaks about women’s roles in the video game world. She has a Youtube channel where she host “Feminist Frequency.”

Anita Sarkessian

In 2013 she lunched a successful Kickstarter campaign which was to create a series on the Youtube, exploiting what she felt was sexist and harmful in video games.

Shortly after she posted a video in August on the sexualization of women in video games, internet users began threatening her life.

A video game was created in which players were invited to abuse her. A report has been filed against these threats because nothing has been done to stop them.

Since then Sarkessian has been forced to leave her home in fear for her life.

There are those that believe that women, minorities and others that calls wider representation in video games as an attack on gamers.

*eyeroll*

via GIPHY

According to an article from TIME magazine, some believe feminists like Sarkessian are trying to force them, them meaning white males, out of gaming. 

*eyeroll*

via GIPHY

“Threats of violence and harassment are wrong.”  An ESA (Entertainment Software Association) spokesperson told the Washington Post. “They have to stop. There is no place in the video game community—or our society—for personal attacks or threats.”

Video games were created to entertain those who are playing them, not because a bridge for harassment and attacks. 
It does not matter if you agree with Sarkessian, who feels the video game industry is dominated by white males, or not. Attacking a person directly shuts down any discussion. 

Period.

We often hear about the video game industry being an inclusive environment. Companies promote immersion of the worlds they create. Spokespeople from various companies seek both males and females to cooperate without conflict. 

Gamergate shows the world a dark side of the video game community. A divided, hateful community. A community that is will to tear down a person simply because they are a woman. Gamergate only one incident that represents conflict in which women face in the gaming community. 

More is yet to come.

4 down, 94 to go