[March 28, 2024] Game Developer: Silence from Sony, Remedy, other studios could worsen harassment campaign

[MDCrabCakeFan86]

Game Developer reports that silence from Sony, Remedy and other game studios could worsen a harassment campaign:

Silence from Sony, Remedy, other studios could worsen harassment campaign

Dr. Rachel Kowert of Take This breaks down how extremist groups take advantage of the reluctance of some companies to stand up to online harassment.

www.gamedeveloper.com

Silence from Sony, Remedy, other studios could worsen harassment campaign

Dr. Rachel Kowert of Take This breaks down how extremist groups take advantage of the reluctance of some companies to stand up to online harassment.

At a Glance

• A recent harassment campaign targeting narrative consultancy firm Sweet Baby Inc. has been met with silence by its partners.
• This is despite the campaign's organizers spreading misinformation about how their games were made.
• Failing to speak up could fuel further threats and harassment, says Take This Research Director Dr. Rachel Kowert.

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[Nida]

The fact she is paranoid is heartbreaking. But honestly probably for the best with how fucked people are.

 

[Freedom = $1.05]

It's like they learned nothing from gamergate

 

[MinerArcaniner]

"We stand against hate in all forms when it's convenient for us."

 

[Captain of Outer Space]

They didn't really do anything for GamerGate, so I don't expect publishers and developers to do much for Stupid GamerGate.

 

[Kyuuji]

It's really shit that they haven't and they absolutely should. Leaving lone employees to push back on it and face the brunt of the hate is awful.

 

[ClickyCal']

It's really shit that they haven't and they absolutely should. Leaving lone employees to push back on it and face the brunt of the hate is awful.

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Yeah it's really grim :(

 

[Kyuuji]

Dr. Rachel Kowert is literally at the center of a mass conspiracy theory. In a conversation at the 2024 Game Developers Conference, she pulled out her phone and shared an image of a red-string case board assembled by an unnamed participant in an ongoing harassment campaign against narrative consultancy studio Sweet Baby Inc.

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Kowert's name is near the center of the board. Strings connected her to video game mental health nonprofit Take This (where she serves as the Research Director), to media outlet Kotaku (where she does not work, though she was profiled by the site in 2023) and then, things... get out of hand.

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The strings link her to the United Nations, the British Parliament, and the government of Brazil, all through her membership in the Extremism in Gaming Research Network. Tangential links between these groups became hotspots for conspiratorial activity, creating an implication that Kowert has influence over entire governments to push an agenda.

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Completely batshit. I'm not surprised she feels paranoid, this type of thing is fertile ground for someone to believe it a little too much and act on it.

 

[Primus]

They won't, of course, because they don't wanna draw the attention to themselves, become a new lightning rod for the chuds, and lose money as a result. Same as it ever was.

 

[.exe]

But conspiratorial radicals with the capacity of ruining people's lives buy games too :(