Majority of game developers term player harassment as a ‘serious’ issue: Survey – Times of India

Game development is an intense profession where strict deadlines could often result in people working extra hours aka doing the ‘crunch.’ Despite this, due to the complex nature of the work, games occasionally get delayed. Sometimes, the postponement of highly anticipated titles has irked fans and made a few cross the proverbial line and harass developers. An example is the death threats received by CD Projekt Red employees after ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ was delayed.
According to a survey conducted by the Game Developers Conference (GDC), more than 75% of developers admit that player harassment is a ‘serious’ or ‘very serious’ issue in the industry. Moreover, over 90% acknowledge that this issue exists in at least some capacity in their profession.

The survey received responses from 2,300 game developers, belonging to different backgrounds, from around the world. Moreover, regarding the accuracy, GDC vouches for a margin of error of no more than +/-3% and a 99% confidence level.
Marketing and PR teams are facing more harassment than game designers
Normally, we would assume the people directly working on the game would be subject to most of the harassment. However, as per the survey, that doesn’t seem to be the case as employees working in community management, marketing, and PR apparently face the most heat. Given these departments interact closely with the gamers, this stat seems logical. These teams are followed by business and finance, production, team management, and finally game design.

Female employees may be targeted more despite a predominantly male demographic
Among the survey’s respondents, 70% turned out to be male – underlining the skewed demographics in the industry. Interestingly though, GDC states that male respondents were “less likely to say they experienced or witnessed harassment” despite the large numbers.
Gaming industry’s views on how to handle player harassment
When asked about how companies can effectively address the issue, an anonymous respondent concisely stated, “Ban, isolate, and deplatform.” Another person opined, “I think setting boundaries clearly and publicly, as well as calling on the community itself to help, can be effective. Large companies seem to fear that their toxic players are their fanbase without appreciating that they are impacting much larger numbers of their actual fanbase”

Contrastingly, one of the respondents had a lukewarm answer, “The customer is always right. Listen to complaints, acknowledge them, find a workable solution, bottom line. That I have found will eliminate that [problem], and a little out-of-pocket in the immediate saves a lot in the long run.” Another said, “Accept it, let it go, move on. The loud minority is part of human nature.”
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