# Gamergate Gamergate is a 2014 online harassment campaign and hashtag movement that grew from allegations about indie developer Zoe Quinn and reframed itself as a fight over ethics in video game journalism. The controversy drove women out of the industry with death threats and shaped years of internet culture war debates. ## Overview Gamergate is the umbrella term for a 2014 online controversy and harassment campaign that grew out of a personal blog post about indie game developer Zoe Quinn and hardened into a Twitter movement claiming to fight for ethics in video game journalism[2]. Supporters gathered under the #GamerGate hashtag to demand disclosure of conflicts between reporters and developers; critics catalogued a coordinated pattern of doxxing and death threats aimed mostly at women in the industry[2]. Gamergate bundles a set of linked events: the 'Zoe Post' allegations, threats that drove developer Brianna Wu and critic Anita Sarkeesian from their homes[2], 4chan's ban on Gamergate discussion, and the leaked GameJournoPros mailing list showing gaming press coordinating on story approach[3]. The story played out on Twitter, YouTube, Reddit and 8chan across late 2014 and 2015, and became one of the defining internet culture war episodes of the mid-2010s. ## How It Spread Several gaming outlets ran a coordinated-looking batch of 'gamer identity is over' essays in late August, which Breitbart's September 17, 2014, exposé of a private Google Group called GameJournoPros framed as active collusion, quoting Ars Technica senior editor Kyle Orland telling colleagues 'I don't want to in essence reward the jerks doing this by giving their issue any attention at all'[3]. That leak became the pro-Gamergate side's central piece of evidence. Mainstream press caught up quickly. NPR's segment on September 24, 2014, framed the story as two arguments at once: a fight over journalism ethics, and a fight over how the industry treats women. NPR reported that two women (Quinn and Wu) had left their homes over safety fears and that the FBI said it would look into threats against developers[2]. Around the same time, 4chan founder Christopher Poole banned Gamergate threads from the site, pushing supporters to 8chan and to Reddit's /r/KotakuInAction, launched in late August by user david-me[4]. Follow-on incidents kept the story alive into 2015. In April, the Honey Badger Brigade, a men's rights group aligned with Gamergate, had its booth pulled from the Calgary Comics and Entertainment Expo after security cited '25 allegations of harassment' without providing evidence[7]. The Mary Sue reported the group had acquired the booth through a crowdfund it internally called 'stealth mode' and had applied under a member's webcomic name rather than its own[8]. HBB announced weeks later they were seeking legal action, arguing the eviction was politically motivated and contravened the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms[9]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Gamergate? Gamergate is a 2014 to 2015 online harassment campaign and hashtag movement that framed itself as a fight over ethics in video game journalism, and drew heavy news coverage over threats against women in the industry[2]. ### Where did Gamergate come from? It started when Zoe Quinn's ex-boyfriend Eron Gjoni published the 'Zoe Post' in August 2014, accusing her of cheating with men including Kotaku writer Nathan Grayson[1]. ### What does Gamergate mean? The term refers to both the #GamerGate Twitter hashtag and the wider controversy, which NPR described as a debate over both journalism ethics and the treatment of women in games[2]. ### How do you use Gamergate? The word is used mostly as a label for the 2014 to 2015 movement and its harassment campaigns, and names the leaked GameJournoPros coordination that Breitbart's September 2014 exposé cited as proof of press collusion[3]. ### Is Gamergate still popular? Active organizing ran mainly through late 2014 and 2015, with follow-on flashpoints like the Honey Badger Brigade's April 2015 Calgary Expo eviction[7]. ### Who is Zoe Quinn? Zoe Quinn is an indie game developer known for Depression Quest, a game that simulates depression through multiple-choice text; her ex-boyfriend's August 2014 blog post about her set off Gamergate[2]. ### What was GameJournoPros? A private Google Group where senior editors from Kotaku, Polygon and Ars Technica discussed coverage strategy, exposed by Breitbart's Milo Yiannopoulos on September 17, 2014[3]. ### What happened to Brianna Wu during Gamergate? Developer Brianna Wu left her home over safety fears after being targeted with threats, according to NPR's September 2014 coverage[2]. ### Was Nathan Grayson a Kotaku reviewer of Depression Quest? No. Kotaku said Grayson never reviewed Depression Quest, and his only Kotaku article involving Quinn was about the Game Jam reality show[1]. ### What did Kotaku change after Gamergate? Kotaku banned staff from contributing to developer Patreons and said it would 'err on the side of consistent transparency' about personal ties[5]. ### What was the Honey Badger Brigade eviction? A Gamergate-aligned men's rights group had its booth pulled from Calgary Expo in April 2015 after security cited 25 unspecified harassment complaints[7]. ## References 1. [https://kotaku.com/in-recent-days-ive-been-asked-several-times-about-a-pos-1624707346]() 2. [https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2014/09/24/349835297/-gamergate-controversy-fuels-debate-on-women-and-video-games]() 3. [https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2014/09/17/Exposed-the-secret-mailing-list-of-the-gaming-journalism-elite/]() 4. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/events/gamergate]() 5. [https://kotaku.com/a-brief-note-about-the-continued-discussion-about-kotak-1627041269]() 6. [https://kotaku.com/the-indie-game-reality-tv-show-that-went-to-hell-1555599284]() 7. [https://honeybadgerbrigade.com/2015/04/18/go-home-gamer-girl-press-release-on-unjust-banishment-from-calgary-expo/]() 8. [https://www.themarysue.com/calgary-expo-gamergate-evicted/]() 9. [https://honeybadgerbrigade.com/2015/04/25/hbb-seeking-legal-advice/]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/gamergate Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library