Hundreds of AAA and independent video game developers and publishers are signing an open letter to the gaming community to end hateful speech, harassment and make the community a more inclusive place to occupy.

The letter, created by Independent Game Designer Andreas Zecher, reads the following:



We believe that everyone, no matter what gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or religion 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.

At the time of writing more than 600 individuals and counting have signed the letter. Those interested in signing the letter, are invited to send a tweet to Andrea Szecher with their first name, last name along with Company name, University name or Independent.

The open letter is the result of ongoing harassment in the community, which threatened to burst with a series of high profile events over just a few weeks. Developer of interactive fiction game Depression Quest, Zoe Quinn, was a target of hate campaign and received waves of harassment. Fez developer Phil Fish’s Polytron website was hacked and the developer's personal information was publicly published.

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Anita Sarkeesian, creator of a web series that explores representations of women in pop culture called Feminist Frequency, frequently receives tirades of hate that spikes every time she releases a new episode. The latest, launched last week, was the second episode exploring the Women as Background Decoration trope in video games. It looked at how sexualized female bodies are often portrayed as both “sexual playthings and the perpetual victims of male violence.” Its release triggered a barrage of harassing and hateful tweets, with Saarkeesian saying she was forced to leave her home after receiving death threats.Image credit: Anita Sarkeesian on Flickr

Jenna Pitcher is a freelance journalist writing for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter