User:Nwbeeson/GamersGateControversy
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The Gamergate controversy, centering on a debate about sexism in video game culture, came to public attention beginning in August 2014 because of ongoing harassment and threats, primarily targeting women in the video game industry. Many supporters of the self-described Gamergate movement say that they are concerned about ethical issues in video game journalism, but media commentary has primarily focused on the attacks by Gamergate supporters, which have been broadly condemned as sexist and misogynistic. Gamergate is often seen as a manifestation of a culture war against targets such as women, the diversification of gaming culture, recognition of video games as an art form, social criticism of video games as a medium, and the way in which these things threaten the traditional gamer identity.
The controversy began after indie game developer Zoe Quinn's ex-boyfriend alleged that Quinn had a romantic relationship with Nathan Grayson, a journalist for the video game news site Kotaku. Quinn was then subjected to severe misogynistic harassment, including false accusations that the relationship had led to positive coverage of Quinn's game. A number of gaming industry members supportive of Quinn were also subjected to harassment, threats of violence, and the malicious broadcasting of personally identifiable information about them (doxing); some of them fled their homes. The targets were mostly women, and included Quinn, feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian, and indie game developer Brianna Wu. The harassment came from social media users, particularly those from 4chan, 8chan and Reddit using the #gamergate hashtag. These attacks often include anti-feminist and misogynistic rhetoric, and have heightened discussion of sexism and misogyny in the gaming community.
Gamergate supporters have been unwilling to move beyond the unorganized, leaderless and anonymous origins which has resulted in an inability to control the behavior and messaging of those acting under the Gamergate hashtag. While some have said that they are concerned with ethics in video game journalism, some members launched a campaign to convince ad providers to pull support from sites critical of Gamergate and others continue to harass those they perceive as opponents. Gamergate's origins in false allegations of ethics violations and the subsequent harassment campaign targeting Quinn and others, its failure to identify significant ethical issues in games media, and its frequent criticism of game critics who discuss issues of gender, class, and politics in their reviews have also been cited as evidence that the ethics concerns are a front for a culture war against the diversification of video game demographics.