Gamergate people always say this but I’ve never seen their actual complaints about games journalism. I did see them getting pissy about people like Anita Sarkeesian discussing feminism in games, though.
The complaint was that games journalism as an industry was unethical due to the unaccountably cozy relationships between game journalists and the industry they cover. Jeff Gerstmann is notable for losing his job (years earlier) due to his refusal to inflate a review score for the game Kane & Lynch.
Those legitimate complaints fell by the wayside when right wing commentators began their harassment campaigns against Sarkeesian and Quinn. The discussion turned into a culture war, much to the benefit of game publishers who wanted the spotlight off their quid pro quo relationships with game review sites. Ultimately, the rise of streaming and lets play content democratized game journalism, making the whole thing a moot issue.
Game development itself has also opened up more than ever before, with countless independent developers catering to gamers with every interest. Multiplayer games likely still have issues with toxicity towards women over voice chat, but I haven’t played a multiplayer game in over a decade so I don’t know the extent of that issue.
No, it was actually just about games journalism. Gamergate died when games journalism died (with the rise of streams and lets plays on YouTube).
Gamergate people always say this but I’ve never seen their actual complaints about games journalism. I did see them getting pissy about people like Anita Sarkeesian discussing feminism in games, though.
The complaint was that games journalism as an industry was unethical due to the unaccountably cozy relationships between game journalists and the industry they cover. Jeff Gerstmann is notable for losing his job (years earlier) due to his refusal to inflate a review score for the game Kane & Lynch.
Those legitimate complaints fell by the wayside when right wing commentators began their harassment campaigns against Sarkeesian and Quinn. The discussion turned into a culture war, much to the benefit of game publishers who wanted the spotlight off their quid pro quo relationships with game review sites. Ultimately, the rise of streaming and lets play content democratized game journalism, making the whole thing a moot issue.
Game development itself has also opened up more than ever before, with countless independent developers catering to gamers with every interest. Multiplayer games likely still have issues with toxicity towards women over voice chat, but I haven’t played a multiplayer game in over a decade so I don’t know the extent of that issue.
Fair enough I suppose. Shame the right wingers co-opted it.
I’ve seen the complains but they never made a lot of sense. It was obvious what it was really about.