#GamerGate is far from over. There’s still more to come. There’s still a few more tricks up our sleeves and a few more plays to be had. But through this process there’s something a lot of people may not have been paying attention to in regards to the effect of what the media has committed against game culture, or the effect this will have on gamers as the industry attempts to move forward through this consumer revolt.

#GamerGate isn’t one of those things that goes away just because it’s no longer in the news; it’s not one of those things we instantly stop thinking about just because we decide to take time away from the hashtag. It’s burned deep within our consciousness regarding the way the industry works, the way video game journalists establish their relationships, and the way the media still views the hobby of interactive entertainment.

Things are really put into perspective when you a see a video like Sockarina’s recent YouTube log called “Why I’m Here”. It’s not just a rally call or another bullet in the clip of a weaponized consumer revolt, it’s eye-opening about how this kind of cultural phenomenon has long-term effects in a deep-seated way.

Why I Am Here: Socks and #GamerGate Updates will resume tomorrow. I needed to get this off my chest. If you want to yell at me for whatever reason, there is a better chance of me seeing it on twitter. @Rinaxas

It’s not as if the people being doxxed, hacked or harassed will soon forget these events. It’s not as if these sort of things don’t mentally or emotionally wear you down. It’s not as if these are climatic moments of your own personal history that amount to nothing – they are events that help shape your own identity through a culture shared by more than a billion people on planet Earth.

I mentioned briefly in the APG Nation interview that this thing – the very outcome of #GamerGate has long-term consequential effects on the video game industry. Some people may laugh it off while others may think nothing of it, but even small instances of poignant fact-twisting, misclassified truth-seeking and character assassinations can have long and damaging effects on small and grand scales.

It all seems rather abstract and foreign until real-world examples come into play. Brad Wardell – in his own blog on Tiny Little Frogs – constantly calls for some way to find recourse on the tarnishing of

his name through poorly done articles from people like Ben Kuchera [via Breitbart] or the multiple hit pieces on Kotaku.

Gawker did an article about Max Temkin’s situation, noting that his five minutes of fame in the search engine spotlight wasn’t incorrigibly damaging, but he was fine… even though the the entire first page of his name is still all about… rape.

Irresponsible reporting is a dangerous game, as noted by The Washington Post.

The common response in this instance is usually…”But it’s just games”. It’s also an estimated $93 billion dollar industry, according to a report by Gartner. For the sake of comparison, the gaming industry in 2012 was worth nearly five times as much as the global music industry, if we go by the IFPI’s 2013 report, as noted on Billboard.com. It’s hardly “just games”. It’s a livelihood for a great many people.

Having the media utilize their platform to harm the culture can be a devastating thing, creating fragmentation and resentment from the core audience against the very product that they support. It’s a similar thing to what happened with Athiesm+, as outlined on Athiestrev.com.

At the moment we have individuals utilizing their media positions to dogmatically put down their own audience, as well as put down the creative minds that build content for that audience. Some people may claim it’s only a fringe group of the media, but when it’s from the media that controls the narrative through Google News and first-page search engine ranking, it’s the sort of narrative that can easily sway opinions, no different than what Brad Wardell mentioned in his post; how often do we hear about the harassment he receives courtesy of their poor reporting?

Worse yet, look at what precedent this sets for the gaming industry, regarding the treatment of women coming into the industry: from August up until now the common theme is that if you’re a woman and you want to get into gaming, don’t.

The internet is flooded (and continues to be flooded) with video games being attached to misogyny and sexism, no different than games being attached to just about every single nationwide media report on historically violent youth crimes just a decade ago. What impression does this set for the average person from the outside looking in?

The media has painted such a broad and hurtful brush across the industry that it makes game culture look as if it can’t be inclusive, diverse or accepting. That if you aren’t a “privileged white-male” you may as well pack up your bags and head home. Nevermind that mature, narrative game structure only ever gained legs within the interactive entertainment industry, over in the west, thanks to Jane Jensen. Nevermind that the point-and-click adventure genre was popularized and made famous thanks to Roberta Williams. Nevermind some of the most beloved JRPGs that helped shape the history of role-playing throughout the 1990s had their graphics designed by the likes of female illustrator and graphics designer Soraya Saga.

Michael Vargas from Pipewords described today’s current crop of pseudo-journalists and glorified bloggers as “charlatans” and the “weasel axis” in his interview with Niche Gamer. It’s a description that best illustrates individuals who not only disrespect the legacy of gaming, those who pioneered it and those who could potentially become its pioneers, but also disrespect its audience – the paying customer.

As the Digitimes article pointed out, what parent would encourage their kid to enter an industry tainted with the labels of “misogynists” and “rapist-apologists”? What kind of conversation do you have around that topic, especially with the media building a narrative around the dangers and dirtiness of being in the interactive entertainment industry? What kind of conversation do you have when games like God of War and Hitman are misused as examples to exemplify a culture that’s been labeled as being steeped in sexually degenerative behavior? Who steps away from this dialogue wanting anything to do with the gaming industry… especially women?

Why haven’t we had conversations in the larger media circles about Jenny LeClue? Or the potential long-term positive effects from games like Legend of Iya? Why can’t we discuss games with a growing audience like Erica Reed? Or the continued success of Nancy Drew? How about talking about Dex instead of decrying CD Projekt RED for Cyberpunk 2077 [the PC Authority article is legit, by the way]? Is inclusiveness only a topic that comes up in gaming from these journalists when discussing the most debased ways a woman can be portrayed in media?

The gaming journalists’ damaging articles and continued screeds of “misogyny” have created a cultural scar on the hobby itself.

As it’s been mentioned before: opinion pieces, editorials and criticism are necessary to create conversation. However, #GamerGate is not a conversation, it’s a one-sided attack from a blind, agenda-driven media machine that’s been built on greed, operates on click-bait and sustains itself on professional-victim propaganda.

The historical identity of gaming – as a diverse and welcoming institution – rests on the shoulders of those who wear #GamerGate as a badge of honor and represent it as a symbol of pride. If you truly want to curate a better form of gaming journalism, make your voice heard to the sponsors. Your voice matters more than you know.

Take away the legs on which the ivory tower has been stationed – remove their reliance on those who provide them with their funding and see the foundations crumble.

We are gamers and we don’t need gaming media’s toxicity or corruption.

With that said, keep supporting the good sites, keep giving your clicks to the gaming outlets that deserve it. Hidden gems like Honest Gamers have been trying to truck along to do the opposite of what Kotaku and Polygon have been doing – they want to provide honest news, reviews and opinion pieces for gamers seeking an alternative to click-bait. It’s time to stop rewarding toxicity.

(Main image courtesy of MAME-HLSL)