Ten years ago, developers Zoë Quinn and Brianna Wu and media critic were attacked by a flood of gamers Anita Sarkeesian. The three were part of a growing chorus of people calling for a more inclusive culture within video games. The attackers doxxed and intimidated their targets, and did everything they could to suppress the women's efforts. The incident, which known as Gamergatehighlighted the toxicity women face in gaming environments and beyond.
Eventually, the harassment faded from the news, but its traces never completely disappeared from the Internet and public life.
Gamerport articulated a certain kind of wounded masculinity, an anger at the loss of the power to be the target audience. Since 2014, it has been formed from the men's rights movement to today's Republican Party, outlining what it means to be a man in certain parts of the internet.
In many ways, says Adrienne Massanari, an associate professor at American University's school of communication, Gamergate predicted a broader right-wing reaction to real changes taking place in American society. Former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon stuck to this in 2015, by harnessing the power of dedicated online fandoms to amplify Trump's campaign.
Within the community, Gamergate seemed to divide men into different camps. For example, men who defended Sarkeesian were called “white knights” and simps. Meanwhile, the people doing the bullying saw themselves as trying to protect the space from the “outside” influences of “social justice warriors,” who threatened to take away the elements that made games fun, in their opinion.
“Although we know that a group of people are playing games, [the men involved in Gamergate] “We saw ourselves as the target audience for games. When that started to change, of course the reaction was anger,” Massanari says. “Now that’s being mirrored, refracted and amplified by Trumpism and that kind of far-right current of Republicanism that’s responding to demographic and societal shifts toward a more egalitarian society.”
This same kind of anger and resistance can now be seen in figures like JD Vance and Elon Musk, both of whom condemn “wokeism” in politics and culture in general. In interviews, Musk has said he was motivated to purchase Xformerly Twitter, to Fight the 'woke mind virus' which he says is destroying civilization. The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 political roadmap repeatedly cites “woke” progressivism as a threat that must be eliminated, particularly by Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives in government spaces.
This connection comes full circle in what has become “Gamergate 2.0,” a backlash against efforts toward inclusion that “FROM THE” is now a catchphrase. Ten years ago, gamers pushed back against critics like Sarkeesian who pointed out that many female characters in games nothing more than tropics. In 2024, the campaigns will target video game consulting firms like Sweet Baby for doing what some gamers see as “forced diversification.” Whatever the rallying cry, the reason is the same: angry that the characters in video games no longer represent your interests.
While the politics of male grievance isn't exactly new, says Patrick Rafail, a professor of sociology at Tulane University, “the mainstreaming of it certainly is.”
Although Gamergate came From a relatively niche subculture, its elements can now be found in influencers like Andrew Tate, who have popularized “these very simplistic, archetypal, stereotypical extremes” of masculinity, says Debbie Ging, professor of digital media and gender at Dublin City University. A new era of podcasting, coupled with a rise in short-form video platforms like TikTok, “which are very algorithmically driven,” are key drivers of this form of rhetoric, says Ging.