Following on from my last point, I'm afraid to say that at least in its current form, the gaming community isn't a great place to be. The amount of racism, sexism, and homophobia that constantly routs its head in online spaces gamers call home is truly nauseating, with countless incidents in 2015 reaffirming the general toxicity that has managed to embed itself across the various facets of the medium. We saw some absolutely awful racist reactions to the announcement that Mafia III's main protagonist would be of mixed-race at E3 on copious amounts of comments sections, forums and YouTube videos, and then proceeded to see 'political correctness' become the invisible overbearing 'enemy' of the community as well. Said tirades are not difficult to find with just a quick Google search, not that you'd even have to make the effort to open a new tab however, as almost every comments section regarding any issue of intolerance or prejudice is bound to provoke some form of backlash. Complaining about 'political correctness gone mad' - most likely with a slew of sexist comments along with it - is an absolutely unparalleled level of toxicity, and it's ruining gaming for those who just want to enjoy the medium for what it is; an immersive hobby and art form. This isn't a problem intrinsically linked to the gaming industry, as it's been made abundantly clear that all avenues of geek culture possess a clear, consistent element of bigotry that's tainting it for a heck of a lot of people. At least we can take solace in the fact that these mediums are making a concerted effort to tackle these issues, and to that effect bring the people ruining the culture into the 21st century kicking and screaming. Do you feel as though gaming is getting ruined by online toxicity and perpetual bad attitudes? Sound off in the comments below!
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
