Many Data Revealed with the New Research: “Young Gamers Do Not Feel Safe in Games”

Many Data Revealed with the New Research: “Young Gamers Do Not Feel Safe in Games”

A new research conducted in partnership with the Take This organization and Nielsen has been published. The research results revealed new data about what kind of problems harassment and hate speech in multiplayer video games create for both players and developers. In partnership with the two companies, 2,408 different gamers were surveyed about their trust and safety in video games. While the results show that hate speech in games does not help anything as expected, they also reveal the extent of the danger.

Harassment and hate speech in video games harms both the game and the player

It is very difficult to escape harassment and hate speech in multiplayer video games. These games, which players of all ages can access for free or for a fee, also have voice chat features to strengthen tactical aspects and support team play. However, these voice or text chat channels are not always used as they should be. The research conducted in partnership with the Take This organization and Nielsen reveals the consequences of this abuse.

Actions players take to avoid an unsafe gaming environment.

Results showing how safe players feel from insults and harassment by age.

Results showing how safe people feel in video games based on their ethnicity.

To summarize, due to harassment and hate speech in video games:

• 4 out of 10 players disable the voice chat feature in games to avoid harassment and hate speech .
• 1 in 10 players think they are not safe at all in games . This rate is higher for young players than for older players.
• 3 in 5 out of 10 players leave the game before or during a match to avoid harassment .
• Members of marginalized groups who fall into LBGTQIA+ or ethnic minorities are the group who feel most unsafe in video games .
• 3 in 4 gamers think it is extremely important to stay safe regarding harassment in video games.

No matter how much companies that publish multiplayer video games try to pay attention to this issue, players who succumb to their anger in games can engage in such toxic behavior. However, a safe gaming environment is also a profitable gaming environment for game developers. Because toxic behavior in video games causes players to spend less time and indirectly spend less money in the game. In multiplayer games, 1 in 5 players spend less money in the game due to hate speech and harassment.

According to the results of the research, players with different sexual orientations or non-white skin color feel less safe than white players with heterosexual sexual orientation. In video games, Asians and Africans especially do not feel like they are part of a safe environment.

You can read the entire research by clicking here .