By 2025, we will enter a new era of security by design for our digital toys. Online gaming is a place where billions of people around the world gather to play, socialize, and relax. However, they are also environments where harassment, hate speech, and grooming for violence and sexual exploration often occur. Today, most online gamers report being directly targeted or witnessing one or more of these acts. The 2024 report found that 82 percent of players reported being a direct victim, and 88 percent reported witnessing some type of “toxic” behavior. Sexual harassment and hate speech are quite common, with more than 70 percent of gamers saying they have witnessed such behavior while playing. that information is shared online for the purpose of intimidation—which is called doxxing. In early 2024, for example, an organized hate campaign began against the small narrative design studio Sweet Baby Inc. Believed to be pushing the “awakening agenda” in the game through consulting, its employees received numerous rape and death threats. There are some of the reasons why games have been associated with hate and discrimination. However, the most important factor is the lack of innovation across the industry. For example, video games are often sidelined in regulatory conversations about online safety. Proprietary data is proprietary, and (understandably) no company wants to be the first to speak publicly about online harm and safety challenges. Games are also, at the end of the day, a business. Talking about their shortcomings may not be something that garners shareholder support. However, by 2025, we will finally see an industry-wide effort that prioritizes security. Some of these changes will be due to government mandates. While video games have long been excluded from the regulatory conversation, they are beholden to some of the new initiatives that have recently been implemented. For example, the Digital Services Act in the European Union requires game companies operating there to submit a transparent, public-facing report on online harm in place and the effectiveness of tools to combat it. For the first time, it will provide industry-wide insight into the strategy and its effectiveness in the gaming ecosystem. By 2025, we will also be able to see the effects of the gaming industry’s efforts at self-regulation. In the past few years, there have been many trust and safety initiatives led by the gaming industry itself from an ecosystem, industry-level approach. For example, in 2024, we saw the release of the Digital Thriving Playbook from the Thriving in Games Group, which provides educational material and step-by-step guidance for game developers on how to create a more resilient community, and approach to issues of trust and security. in the game. It also includes guidance on content moderation and community management approaches, as well as teamwork by design, trust by design, and building prosocial behavior in gaming communities. Last year also saw another breakthrough, with a partnership between Epic Games and the International Age Rating Coalition to create an internationally recognized rating for all user-generated content created for Fortnite. Historically, player-generated content has not been rated, so users can make their best guess about age appropriateness from the experience’s name, image, and description. The integration of the rating system in user generated content will allow players (and parents) to make more informed decisions about what and how they will play. By 2025, other game makers will follow suit to support players’ ability to make informed choices about user-generated content (from billions of pieces) that are safe and appropriate for them. does not mean there is no risk. Hate, harassment, and other forms of social harm will always exist in some form or another online. But by 2025, the video game industry will finally have a more cohesive security strategy to protect players from social harm. As the world’s largest media sector, the video game industry has been long overdue for this innovation, and for prioritizing player safety and well-being. As I see it, 2025 promises to be a transformative year that sets new standards for safety in our digital playground.
