The broader ecosystem of online gaming includes game play, as well as platforms for watching others play, gamer commentary, and chat features where viewers interact with one another. We not only analyze video game play, but the broader ecosystem of online gaming communities. This study is the first-ever content analysis on a streaming platform (as opposed to non-streaming Representation in Video Games), of its kind. We offer a list of concrete actions in this report for parents and content creators to improve online gaming spaces for male gamers, and those female and non-binary gamers who also find a sense of belonging within the gaming community. But online spaces are also rife with identity-based prejudice, harassment, and bullying that are ultimately harmful to boys and young men, and also harmful because other community members who interact with this content may mimic or condone these behaviors online as well as offline. On the positive side, streaming platforms are a vital space for connecting with male friends – these communities are a space where boys and young men can share their emotions and problems and be their authentic selves. Overall, our results find that the experience is a double-edged sword for male gamers. The purpose of this study is to understand what boys and young men are seeing and experiencing in the online gaming community. Video games have an incredible reach into the lives of boys and men. Prior to the pandemic, video games had become a mainstream form of entertainment, with 60 percent of Americans playing daily. Over half (54 percent) of players are boys/men while 46 percent of players are girls/women. According to a Nielsen gaming survey, 82 percent of global consumers played video games or watched video game play in March 2020, the height of pandemic lockdowns in the US. Video game play has spiked 75 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the gaming industry earning $159.3 billion in 2020. Video games play an important role in the lives of young people in the US and around the world. This study contributes to the Global Boyhood Initiative, led by Promundo, the Kering Foundation, and Plan International, a new international effort to promote and support healthy boyhood. Given pressing global concerns about the societal impacts of toxic masculinity and the ever-growing popularity of video gaming around the globe, alongside the COVID-19 pandemic that facilitated greater interest and participation in gaming, this work is more important than ever. The Oak Foundation has partnered with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media and Promundo to examine representations of the aforementioned identities and masculinity in video games and gaming communities. This groundbreaking study examines masculinity and representations of different identities ( gender, race, LGBTQIA+ individuals, disability, age, and body size) in the most popular video games and in the TWITCH online gaming community. Given the amount of time many boys and young men spend in these spaces and communities, these are vital questions for promoting and sustaining gender equality and healthy masculinity.
To aid in these discussions, it is important we understand the way manhood is presented, discussed, and perpetuated in the gaming community. What do boys and young men see and experience in online gaming in terms of relationships, violence, and ideas about what it means to be men? More recently, there has been a willingness to discuss and address ideas of toxic manhood and masculinity, as well as misogyny and the exclusion of women in the gaming community. #RaiseTheGame: Inspiring Meaningful Change In The Games Industry The purpose of this study is to understand what boys and young men are seeing and experiencing in the online gaming community.Īlthough women’s interest and participation in online gaming is on the rise, boys and young men are still the majority of those who participate in video games and online gaming in the US. Virtual See Jane Salon Event (August 17, 2021)Īction Steps for Industry Leaders and Parents
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