The Harassment of Game Developers
We really can't have nice things. I constantly rail against the vocal minority that seeps into every gaming conversation and ruins it for the rest of us. Today's rant is cut from the same genus, but is a different species of beast. Today's rant centers on something that can have long-term repercussions on gaming. Today's rant focuses on something that can affect how good faith actors interact with their favorite medium. Today's rant is a call to action, a cry for help, and a sounding of the alarm for anyone with a login and password for any social media platform.
Over the past year, the inappropriate conduct of several bad actors towards game developers (and creators in other mediums, but today, we're talking games) has ramped up exponentially. Social media replies and review bombs have metamorphosed into death threats, sexual harassment, and other crimes. Trolling and review bombing is childish and stupid, but able to be ignored. Physical threats, however, are an entirely different thing. These actions can negatively impact the industry for years, damaging the medium that many of us love.
God of War Ragnarök Release Date
Summer Games Fest 2022 came and went without any or release date for God of War Ragnarök. Fans were understandably disappointed, but unreasonably angry. Their expectations were founded on some rumors about a release date announcement during the show. Instead, what followed was a campaign culminating in obscene photographs being sent to Estelle Tigani, a producer on the project.
A teaser materialized about a week later, alongside a release date and the reveal of a Collector's and Jötnar Edition. These were accompanied by new complaints about physical discs, which I disagree with but understand. As far as I could see, those grievances remained confined to the official PlayStation blog post and some social media replies.
Those who engaged in any personal attacks or criminal behavior toward anyone attached to Ragnarök should know that they could have ruined the game for the rest of us. I suspect they don't care.
Return to Monkey Island Teaser
Guybrush Threepwood and his antics across the Caribbean should not be the target of anyone's ire. The Secret of Monkey Island is, at best, a cult classic. No one is entitled to a sequel, a reboot, or anything resembling another installment to this series. Any new games should be considered a bonus. If they are bad, they should be ignored.
When the initial Return to Monkey Island trailer dropped, Ron Gilbert was subjected to enough harassment to prompt the temporary shut down of his site. The rationale for this meltdown? "I don't like the graphics." Really? The graphics on a teaser trailer? If anything, that would be a reason to skip the game. Definitely not to bombard the developer with toxicity.
The end result of this nonsense was a trailer-less road to release. Ron Gilbert cited the harassment as the reason for not sharing more of the game in the lead up. Good faith fans of this game received zero updates until the game finally launched about a week ago. Get the picture yet?
Destiny Ability Update
When Kevin Yanes made remarks about the omission of an ability for a class in Destiny 2, he received death threats. I'm going to repeat that to allow the idiocy to breathe. When Kevin Yanes indicated that a VIDEO GAME ABILITY for a VIDEO GAME CLASS in VIDEO GAME Destiny 2 was not going to be added, he received threats on his life.
I don't think I can overstate how stupid this is. This game doesn't have a significant competitive scene. This doesn't take anything away from the player base, but it does eliminate one rationale for anger over an update. Most updates are enveloped in modular seasons that can be skipped. There is never a guarantee that your specific preferences in the game will be honored.
Gamers who enjoy competitive games online should, at this point, be used to having their favorite mechanics nerfed in favor of others. Every so often, this happens without reason and to the detriment of the game. It is in the player base's best interest to use the existing feedback options provided by the dev to express concerns with the behavior of any portion of the game. Anything beyond that is asinine.
Grand Theft Auto VI
We have arrived at the event that prompted me to race to my keyboard.
While much of the gaming community has eventually come out to decry the leak of early footage of an unannounced game, the early reactions to the announcement of this leak had support for the hacker peppered throughout. Mental gymnastics included:
"We should have gotten news faster."
No. Rockstar doesn’t owe gamers any news about any new games until they are ready to give it. If you don’t want to wait, play something else.
"This is what they get for selling Shark Cards."
Nope. What they get for selling Shark Cards is the loss of my patronage. I stopped playing Grand Theft Auto Online ages ago, mostly because it seemed like a money pit that I wanted part of. Never once did I need to harass Rockstar Games employees.
"Serves them right, the GTA Trilogy DE was trash."
Again, nope. You always have a choice to wait before buying something sight unseen. You can do research. If you preorder and get burned, the “fool me once” rule applies. And you can send feedback, request refunds, etc.
"That footage looks like garbage."
You have no idea what the game will actually look like once released. THE GAME IS UNANNOUNCED! There is nothing indicating whether the video was pre-alpha, alpha, beta, or anything. I refuse to watch it, because it does nothing for me.
We do not yet know the full effect of this leak on the release roadmap. The Grand Theft Auto franchise is still raking in about $200 million per quarter. Rockstar is under zero pressure. They haven't even announced the existence of the game officially, and although a release window was supposedly leaked, Rockstar is not obligated to acknowledge it.
Yes. The law enforcement has arrested the leaker. Yes. The length of the leaked footage was short (I don't know, I refuse to watch it). Yes. The community has banded together in support of Rockstar. But that doesn't mean we aren't looking at a potential delay from even Rockstar's perspective. Or, in the worst-case scenario, a rework of the game altogether.
What We Should Do
It is incumbent on every one of us with a social media presence to look for signs of harassment on social media. When we see it, we should do three things. First, ignore and don't engage the offender. That one is easy. Second, if appropriate, report their post. Let the social media platform know that this behavior exists on their platform. Third, block the account. Often, these mass harassment campaigns are looking for attention. Don't give it to them. Let them know that the gaming community holds itself to some kind of standard. It's ok to dislike something. It is never ok to cross the line over a video game.
