The video game industry is finally getting serious about player safety

In 2025, we will enter a new era of safety by designing our digital playgrounds.

Online gaming is spaces where billions of people around the world come together to play, socialize and relax. However, they are also environments where harassment, hate speech, solicitation of violence, and sexual exploration frequently occur. Today, most online game players report being the direct target of or witnessing one or more of these actions. 2024 report found 82% of players reported that they were direct victims, and 88% reported that they witnessed some form of “toxic” behavior. Sexual harassment and hate speech are very common, with more than 70 percent of game players saying they have witnessed these behaviors while playing.

In extreme cases, players face violations of their privacy and right to life, for example, when their private personal information is maliciously shared online for the purpose of intimidation – so-called doxxing. In early 2024, for example, Organized hate campaign It was started against the small narrative design studio Sweet Baby Inc. Believed to be pushing the “woke agenda” in gaming through its consultancy, its employees have received numerous rape and death threats.

There are a number of reasons why gaming is associated with hatred and discrimination. But the most important factor is the lack of industry-wide innovation. For example, video games We are Often marginalized In regulatory conversations about online safety. Private data is OwnershipAnd (understandably) no company wants to be the first to speak out about online harms and safety challenges. Games are also, ultimately, businesses. Talking about one’s shortcomings is not likely to be something that shareholders will support.

However, in 2025, we will finally start to see industry-wide efforts that prioritize safety. Some of these shifts will be due to government mandates. Although video games have long been excluded from regulatory conversations, they are indebted to some new initiatives that have been approved recently. For example, Digital Services Law In the European Union, gaming companies operating there are required to provide transparent reporting to the public about online harms within their spaces and the effectiveness of their tools to combat it. For the first time, this will allow industry-wide insights into strategies and their effectiveness across the gaming ecosystem.

In 2025, we will also begin to see the effects of the games industry’s attempts to self-regulate. Over the past several years, there have been numerous trust and safety initiatives that the gaming industry itself has led through an industry-wide approach. For example, in 2024 we saw the release of Rules of the digital boom game From the Thriving in Games Group, which provides educational materials and step-by-step guides to game developers on how to create more resilient communities, and approaches to dealing with trust and safety issues in games. It also includes guides on content moderation and community management techniques, as well as teamwork by design, trust by design, and building prosocial behavior in gaming communities.

Last year also saw another milestone, through the partnership between Epic Games and International Alliance for Age Classification To create internationally recognized taxonomies for all user generated content created for it fortnite. Historically, player-created content has not been rated, leaving users to make their best guess about age appropriateness from the experience’s name, photo, and description. Incorporating a rating system into user-generated content will allow players (and parents) to make more informed decisions about what they will play and how they will play. In 2025, other game makers will follow suit to support players’ ability to make informed choices about which user-generated content (among billions of pieces) is safe and appropriate for them to engage with.

To be clear, a safe community does not mean there is no risk. Hate, harassment, and other forms of social harm will always exist in one form or another online. But in 2025, the video game industry will finally have more coherent safety strategies to better protect players from social harm. As the largest media sector in the world, the video game industry has long overdue for this innovation, and to prioritize player safety and well-being. In my view, 2025 promises to be a transformative year that sets a new standard for safety in our digital playgrounds.