Empowering the Gaming Industry: Strategies for Addressing Hate, Harassment, and Extremism in Online Communities

This whitepaper, published in February 2024 by Take This, examines the gaming industry's efforts and challenges in addressing hate, harassment, and extremism within online communities. The research, conducted through focus groups with game developers of various studio sizes in 2023, aimed to understand current progress and identify necessary tools for improving online safety. The scope of the findings covers the global video game industry, focusing on community safety and moderation practices.

Key findings indicate that while some progress has been made, the industry generally lacks widespread knowledge and readily available tools to effectively combat these negative behaviors. Such behaviors have significant real-world impacts, causing psychological distress for players and leading to reduced player bases and revenue for studios. Players overwhelmingly believe that studios and their moderators are responsible for maintaining safe online spaces. However, industry professionals expressed low confidence in the existing tools to address these concerns.

The report highlights that efforts to combat hate and harassment often remain siloed within individual studios or are hidden behind third-party paywalls, hindering industry-wide innovation. Given the interconnected nature of gaming communities across different studios, the most effective solutions are likely to involve cross-studio collaborations. The research emphasizes the importance of community-based, proactive strategies designed to prevent disruptive actions rather than merely reacting after harm has occurred. This work is supported by a grant from the Department of Homeland Security.