Speaking Out
The past week or so has been a big one for the video game community. A major upheaval is underway as people have begun to share stories as victims of harassment, abuse, predatory, and toxic behavior at the hands of prominent figures in the gaming world; from youtube content creators, to streamers, to prominent industry figures. Bravely, survivors are sharing their stories and exposing these people in what could be described as a new #MeToo movement.
The first I had heard of this, and still to the best of my knowledge the catalytic event that started this all, happened within the Destiny community regarding a streamer by the name of SayNoToRage. Several people had shared stories of his inappropriate behavior and even Bungie community manager Cozmo made it clear that ties to that individual had been cut (ie: he was no longer welcome at events and such) due to reports of inappropriate behavior in the past.
A couple of days later I heard from a friend that a big-time content creator, Cryaotic, had posted an apology video regarding infidelity and grooming minors. This has since spiraled into a real mess of the accused passing the buck and trying to implicate others involved, including the accused’s former friends and victims.
From there things started to snowball. Streamers and YouTubers left and right were finally being exposed for their shitty behavior. Things got even bigger when industry folks began getting called out as well. Omeed Dariani, former C.E.O. of a talent management agency that works with streamers was exposed for predatory behavior towards Molly O., a Twitch streamer and community development lead for Overwatch.
Ubisoft community manager and prominent figure within the Assassin’s Creed fan community, Escoblades, has been called out for sexual assault and rape. Cas Anvar, voice actor of Altaïr ibn-La’Ahad in Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, has been exposed for consistently pressuring and soliciting women, and for assaulting at least one individual who, at the time, was a minor. Ashraf Ismail, director of games in the Assassin’s Creed series was exposed for pursuing several extramarital affairs and lying to those he approached. He has since stepped down as game director for the upcoming title Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.
We could go on and list problematic individuals for days, I’m sure. But what is truly noteworthy is the stance that the community as a whole has taken towards these allegations. Gaming, like a lot of others, is a primarily male-dominated industry and plagued with toxic male geek masculinity. In 2014 victims spoke out against its sexist culture and were met with disbelief, death threats, and threats of sexual assault. Now, though, people seem to be doing a much better job at listening.
Those that have never experienced it can never understand just what kind of effect sexual assault can have on an individual, and how that trauma can be compounded when it’s directly associated with something that you value and turn to as a means of enjoyment and expression. Those things should be safe for everyone, not just entitled people in positions of power. The only way to make those spaces safe is to call out that behavior, hold perpetrators accountable, listen, learn, and most importantly be willing to believe victims and believe survivors.
That last part is important. Believe victims. Believe survivors. Take accusations seriously. A large part of why we find ourselves dealing with this yet again is because of the problematic culture that defends perpetrators with dismissive notions like “Oh they’re not like that.” What’s even worse is a culture that tries to gaslight victims; tries to tell them that their assault is their own fault and that if they speak out that it’s their own reputation and their own career that will suffer. This logic is backward, immoral, and needs to be dealt away with immediately. If, after all, we are to build a community that we’re proud of and allow the industry to continue to grow, then it has to promise safety to all of those involved; not just those in positions of power.
Pay attention: several streamers and content creators are committed to becoming resources for educating those of us that could stand to learn a thing or several. Follow, donate, and share the information. Get it out there so we can affect change together.
Here’s a very small list of resources to help out.
Organizations:
Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network: https://www.rainn.org/
National Sexual Violence Resource Center: https://www.nsvrc.org/
Anti-Violence Project (LGBTQ+): https://avp.org/
The Network/La Red(LGBTQ+): http://tnlr.org/en/
Worth A Read
“It’s a man’s world” by Snaps: http://mindofsnaps.com/blog/item/389-it-s-a-man-s-world
A thread on performative contrition by M.M. Schill: https://twitter.com/mm_schill/status/1276391151432597504