THere is now very careful for young men and toxic masculinity. About time. The destructive Netflix drama puberty, a 13 -year -old child accused of killing a girl after being radicalized by the online manosphere, drew attention to the problem with the pure power of his bright article and the puffy performance of the young Owen Cooper. Recently, former British Football Manager Gareth Southgate made a speech about how young men who do not have moral mentors return to gambling and video games, thus disconnecting themselves and often dived into male online communities, where they often live in the community. In the press, there was some reconstruction of the idea that games provide a less environment for men than the ideal, but even our games of games and enjoyment of game forums, message panels, flow platforms and social media groups need to confront the reality of uncomfortable hate speech and violent rhetorics.
To be honest, we knew it for a while. The 2014 Harassment Campaign, which claims to be a lack of objectivity in games journalism, but reacted to progressive thoughts in game development, and the 2014 harassment campaign Gamergate, young white men have a test ground for the radicalization of news outlets such as “lower-right” impressive and Breitbart. Online right on the right and victims, including mass harassment and doxing, women and LGBTQI+ game developers and color game makers are afraid of this back boiler for their lives.
It wasn’t over – toxic Fandom continued to make the game industry dog. Game developers who tried to diversify their characters and narratives or delayed the launch of the highly expected titles encountered mass online abuse and death threats. A friend of mine, the visible manager producer of a large game series, had to accept a police escort for himself and his family for a few days after he had not agreed with a few new features of the latest installment of the fans of the game. More recently, Reported The members of the team working on Assassin’s Creed Shadows were told not to talk about their roles in the production of social media if they were targeted and harassed by the company. When the shadows turned out to be a black samurai, one of the two main characters received a major online reaction. Trump did not reveal the idea of introducing the concept of diversity, equality and involvement (DEI) in a ridiculous way to calm right-leaning voters-Toxic game communities have been doing this for years.
In the current Maelstrom, the concern is that the nuance of the problem will be lost. While condemning the game communities that worship impressives such as Andrew Tate and Sneako, it is important to recognize extremely positive roles that online communities can play in their lives in the lives of young people who underestimate women and share “thinner” and red pill philosophies. As the father of an autistic young man, I saw that my son developed through contact with other players in games like Minecraft and Warframe. The last thing we need from politicians and lifestyle gurus that attracts attention is that men stop playing, or a blanket philosophy where all games are unhealthy-this is not about this screen time, not about making men touch the grass once in a while. We must understand that our children are digital natives, as in any physical field at home – there is no clear definition for many. To be honest, I don’t know what to say to you how much you feel up to you when you spend hours a day by examining Facebook, Instagram or Tiktok.
What can be done? Of course, the game industry has the responsibility to monitor and make them safe – just as social media companies do. The use of solid online moderation and AI to monitor in -game conversation for key slurry and subjects is a vital part of the fight against the problem. However, in the long run, abusive, antisocial young men will not go until the problem reaches the source. In 2025, many young men do not have a sense of direction, identity and purpose. Traditional career disappears; Social changes challenge historical masculine roles; It is difficult to access mental health services; City centers are dying. Regardless of the truth of the issue, the world is clearly hostile to them. And in this vortex, it will use this sense of despair and anger, manage and ultimately earn money, indicate that it will easily be described, women, immigrants, “libtarlar”, beta men and yes, manufacturers of progressive video games.
I have spent my entire career by defending my entire career as a tool from those who try to demonize the whole culture, but you cannot approach this issue without realizing that the gaming community dominated by young men who are traditionally interested in violent power fantasies. Young people often come to games to escape and become virtual superheroes, but their vulnerable and lack of experience make them target and sacrifice. The society will receive more than one bright TV drama to address this emergency problem, but the game industry should be a big part of the difficult conversations.
