Video game controversies: Difference between revisions

{{pp-pc1}}

{{Use American English|date=December 2020}}

 

====Content regulation and censorship====

Support for video game regulation has been linked to [[moral panic]].<ref>Byrd P. [http://www.houstonlawreview.org/archive/downloads/44-2_pdf/5_Byrd.pdf "It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt: the effectiveness of proposed video game regulation"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924031423/http://www.houstonlawreview.org/archive/downloads/44-2_pdf/5_Byrd.pdf |date=2015-09-24 }} ''Houston Law Review'' 2007. Accessed 19 March 2007.</ref> Even so, governments have enacted, or have tried to enact, legislation that regulates distribution of video games through [[censorship]] based on [[Video game content rating system|content rating systems]] or banning.<ref>Byrd P. R. [http://www.houstonlawreview.org/archive/downloads/44-2_pdf/5_Byrd.pdf "It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt: the effectiveness of proposed video-game legislation on reducing violence in children"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924031423/http://www.houstonlawreview.org/archive/downloads/44-2_pdf/5_Byrd.pdf |date=2015-09-24 }} ''Houston Law Review''.</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2238242.stm "Technology: Greeks fight computer game ban"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305234852/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2238242.stm |date=2014-03-05 }} [[BBC World News|BBC News World Edition]]. 5 September 2002.</ref><ref>Lee J.[http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/22/world/asia/south-korea-gaming "South Korea pulls plug on late-night adolescent online gamers"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141104123932/http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/22/world/asia/south-korea-gaming |date=2014-11-04 }} [[CNN]] 22 November 2011.</ref><ref>"Nintendo Censorship". ''Filibuster cartoons'' website. Accessed 20 September 2012.</ref> In 2005, David Gauntlett claimed that grant funding, news headlines, and professional prestige more commonly go to authors who, in good faith, promote anti-media beliefs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=22249|title=Moving Experiences|publisher=Iupress.indiana.edu|access-date=17 February 2015|archive-date=6 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306052442/http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=22249|url-status=live}}</ref> Tom Grimes, James A. Anderson, and Lori Bergen reiterated these claims in a 2008 book examining sociological effects on the production of media effects research.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sagepub.com/books/Book227461|title=SAGE: Media Violence and Aggression: Science and Ideology: Tom Grimes: 9781412914413|publisher=SAGE|access-date=17 February 2015|archive-date=31 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150531022220/http://www.sagepub.com/books/Book227461|url-status=live}}</ref>

 

===Related to the video game industry===

====Workplace concerns====

Just as with representation of women, LGBT, and minorities in video games themselves, these groups also can be marginalized within the video game development industry in Western markets. The industry is primarily made up of Caucasian, heterosexual males, according to 2017 industry studies, a result of the marketing of video games during the 70s and 80s. Experts have stressed the need to draw underrepresented groups into the industry to help developers gain broader insights for the stories and characters for video games, so that new games will appeal to the largest possible audiences.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/15/video-game-industry-diversity-problem-women-non-white-people |title=The video game industry has a diversity problem – but it can be fixed |first=Chella |last=Ramanan |date=15 March 2017 |access-date=22 August 2019 |work=[[The Guardian]] |archive-date=28 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190628153943/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/15/video-game-industry-diversity-problem-women-non-white-people |url-status=live }}</ref> While the industry has had isolated cases where minorities reported mistreatment, there had not yet been a moment like the [[Me Too movement]] in other entertainment fields as of 2021. However, with major legal cases of sexual misconduct towards female employees at [[Riot Games]], [[Ubisoft]] and [[Activision Blizzard]] filed from 2018 to 2021, some analysts and academics see such a watershed moment for the video game industry to be approaching.<ref name="nytimes jul30">{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/29/technology/activision-walkout-metoo-call-of-duty.html | title = Activision, Facing Internal Turmoil, Grapples With #MeToo Reckoning | first1 = Kellen | last1 = Browning | first2= Mike | last2 = Isaac | date = July 29, 2021 | accessdate = July 30, 2021 | work = [[The New York Times]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/aug/08/activision-blizzard-lawsuit-women-sexual-harassment | title = Activision Blizzard scandal a 'watershed moment' for women in the gaming industry | first = Kari | last = Paul |date = August 8, 2021 | accessdate = August 9, 2021 | work = [[The Guardian]] }}</ref>

 

Video game developers are considered creative professionals and thus typically do not qualify for [[overtime]] pay.<ref name="vice union">{{cite web |url=https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/walk-the-line |title=Walk the Line |first=Emanuel |last=Maiberg |date=February 22, 2017 |access-date=February 23, 2017 |work=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222154745/https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/walk-the-line |archive-date=February 22, 2017}}</ref> Larger studios, particularly those backed by [[Triple A (video gaming)|Triple A]] publishers, will frequently set game completion deadlines, and require employees to complete their tasks by this deadline, often requires several weeks of overtime work. This has become known as "[[Crunch (video games)|crunch time]]" within the industry.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/no-fun-for-game-developers/|title=No fun for game developers?|work=[[CNet News]]|last=Frauenheim|first=Ed|date=11 November 2004|access-date=22 August 2019|archive-date=3 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403165442/https://www.cnet.com/news/no-fun-for-game-developers/|url-status=live}}</ref> While infrequent periods of crunch time are tolerated, there have been several reported cases where developers have been forced into a crunch time mode for months at a time, even well before a game's set completion deadline.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://kotaku.com/inside-rockstar-games-culture-of-crunch-1829936466 |title=Inside Rockstar Games' Culture Of Crunch | first=Jason | last=Schreier | date=23 October 2018 | access-date=23 October 2018 | work=[[Kotaku]] | archive-date=1 November 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101233541/https://kotaku.com/inside-rockstar-games-culture-of-crunch-1829936466 | url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Eurogamer: Rockstar Spouse">{{cite web |first=Tom |last=Bramwell |date=11 January 2010 |url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/rockstar-spouse-attacks-studio-conditions |title="Rockstar Spouse" attacks dev conditions |website=[[Eurogamer]] |access-date=31 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171030201507/http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/rockstar-spouse-attacks-studio-conditions |archive-date=30 October 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="GamesIndustry.biz: Rockstar Spouse">{{cite web |first=Kath |last=Brice |date=11 January 2010 |url=http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/rockstar-spouse-accuses-dev-of-pushing-its-employees-to-the-brink |title="Rockstar Spouse" accuses dev of pushing its employees "to the brink" |website=[[GamesIndustry.biz]] |access-date=31 October 2017 |url-status=live |archive-date=7 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107025836/http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/rockstar-spouse-accuses-dev-of-pushing-its-employees-to-the-brink}}</ref> Such practices have caused developers and other groups starting in 2018 for discussing [[trade union|unionization]] within the industry and establishing reasonable limits on crunch time and other workers' rights.<ref name="vice union"/><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-03-19/video-game-workers-found-their-voices-in-the-pandemic-could-unions-be-next | title = Video game workers found their voices in the pandemic. Could unions be next? | first = Jaimie | last = Ding | date = March 19, 2022 | accessdate = March 20, 2022 | work = [[Los Angeles Times]] }}</ref>

 

 

====Anti-consumer practices====

Video games as computer software are potentially easy to copy and duplicate outside of the copyright owner's control, which can lead to widespread [[Copyright and video games|copyright infringement]]. Prior to digital distribution, some games included an in-game step that required the player to check part of the game's printed manual or material shipped with the game such as a [[code wheel]], which they entered into the game to validate ownership, though such simply checks were easily defeated through photocopies and shared information.<ref>{{cite magazine | url = https://www.pcgamer.com/code-wheels-poison-and-star-maps-the-creative-ways-old-games-fought-piracy/ | title = Code wheels, poison, and star maps: the creative ways old games fought piracy | first= Andy | last= Kelly | date =August 4, 2020 | accessdate = June 4, 2021 | magazine = [[PC Gamer]] }}</ref> With wide availability of the Internet making such physical schemes impractical to control copyright infringement, many developers and publishers turned to [[digital rights management]] (DRM) to control the use of digital content and devices after purchase and to protect an entity's intellectual property from public access.<ref>"The pros, cons, and future of DRM". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 7 August 2009. Accessed 7 January 2012.</ref> DRM technologies typically tie the specific installation of a game to the computer it is installed on, preventing a user from sharing the same files with a second user; however this also can limit legitimate reuse of the installation of the game by the purchaser on different computers they own. Because of limitations placed on what a user can do with purchases games bundled with DRM, consumers argue it inconveniences legitimate customers and allows big business to stifle innovation and competition.<ref>[https://www.eff.org/issues/drm "DRM"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705015859/https://www.eff.org/issues/drm |date=2018-07-05 }} Electronic Frontier Foundation. Accessed 7 March 2014.</ref> In some types of "always-in DRM", the DRM must have a persistent connection to an external server, which has raised further concerns about the ability for a user to play a game if they temporarily lack an Internet connection, and the fate of the game if the DRM server should be discontinued.<ref>Plafke J. "Why SimCity's DRM is a necessary evil." ''ExtremeTechnology'', Ziff Davis Inc. website 7 March 2013.</ref><ref>Kain E. "''Diablo III'' fans should stay angry about always-online DRM". ''Forbes'' 17 May 2012. Accessed 5 March 2013.</ref>

 

With the advent of [[digital distribution]] and online storefronts for video games, publishers and developers sought ways to further [[video game monetization|monetize]] the game as to obtain further revenue after the initial sale. Larger expansion packs led way to the nature of [[microtransaction]]s, small purchases, typically under {{USD|5}} for a small benefit in the game. One of the first examples of this was a piece of horse armor for ''[[The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]]'', which proved controversial. Publishers and developers would continue to develop other monetization methods, such as [[freemium]] games that are free to play but the player benefits by spending real-life money for in-game boosts. A more recent approach is the idea of [[loot box]]es, popularized in games like ''[[Overwatch (video game)|Overwatch]]'', where the player can purchase with either in-game or real-life funds a virtual box that contains a set of in-game items, with the items being distributed by various rarity levels. Loot boxes came under intense government and media scrutiny in 2018 as it felt these mechanics were too close or were like gambling, and would violate their local laws. Some countries like Denmark and the Netherlands banned the use of loot boxes, while other countries like the United States and United Kingdom urged the video game industry to voluntarily regulate the use of loot boxes.