It hasn’t exactly been a great time to be a gamer lately—except for huge, gross gaming trolls, who seem to be having a blast taunting people, making threats, and generally being the worst. But those trolls are now the target of an open letter from the gaming community’s creators to its fans, asking them to end intolerance for the good of everyone.
Open letter to the gaming community
We believe that everyone, no matter what gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion or disability has the right to play games, criticize games and make games without getting harassed or threatened. It is the diversity of our community that allows games to flourish.
If you see threats of violence or harm in comments on Steam, YouTube, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook or reddit, please take a minute to report them on the respective sites.
If you see hateful, harassing speech, take a public stand against it and make the gaming community a more enjoyable space to be in.
Thank you
Andreas Zecher (Spaces of Play)
The letter is addressed to everyone in the gaming community. If you see harassment, hate-speech, or anything else harmful going on, it’s time to speak up and tell that person to stop. That kind of behavior can only continue as long as the bulk of the community views it as acceptable, and it’s going to take positive voices to end it—the negative ones aren’t just going to stop because of a letter.