What's Going On With GDC 2023?

Published: Apr 09, 2023, 1:39 pm Updated: Apr 09, 2023, 2:16 pm

GDC 2023 has been making headlines this year, but it's not because there was an especially interesting talk or cool announcement coming out of the show. It's considerably darker than that, with multiple women reporting experiencing sexual harassment at the conference. For an event targeted specifically at professionals in the gaming industry, this news has been shocking for many.

So, in this article, we'll tell you everything you need to know about what's going on with GDC 2023.

The GDC 2023 Story Explained

The story begins with reports from various attendees of GDC 2023 that multiple women were assaulted or had their drinks spiked at the conference. For reference, GDC 2023 took place between March 20th and March 24th in San Francisco, California.

Developer Leena van Deventer had the following to say about the event, Women at GDC this year have been belittled and undermined in their roles, been hit on relentlessly, and had their drinks spiked by predatory men," continuing, "Two women were even lured up to a hotel room by a man in a position of power for a 'pitch', where he then assaulted them."

Since the claims here were originally made, more information has come out. Reportedly, there were multiple unwanted advances made at the show itself while an off-site GDC party is reportedly where a series of drink spikings took place, leading up to an alleged assault in a hotel room.

A representative for GDC has since responded and said, "We are very upset to hear that some people, especially women, reported concerning experiences during the GDC week at off-site events, including assault and drink spiking. This is outrageous and unacceptable; everyone has a right to feel safe. We severely condemn any such behaviour and support the victims; we encourage reporting to the police and hope the perpetrators will be found."

It's currently unclear exactly who the bad actors at the event were, and it's similarly unclear what is to happen to them were they to be found, but either way, reports of this happening at the event have started a larger conversation about women's treatment in the gaming industry and video games at large.

Women in Games CEO's Comments

The CEO of Women in Games, a non-profit organization that advocates for the rights of women in the context of the games industry, has recently made comments following the reports of what happened at GDC.

CEO Marie-Claire Isaaman says that "We are going backwards as an industry! None of this is okay, none of this should be happening!" in reference to what went on at GDC but also to the larger treatment of women in video games. She noted that women often receive uniquely dark and threatening harassment both in games and within the gaming industry in ways men don't.

On one hand, gamers agree that women are met with a particular brand of toxicity in the gaming world that often means being hit on, being told to 'get back to the kitchen' or even having their social media accounts stalked by strangers on the internet.

However, Isaaman herself noted that "both male and female gamers experienced similarly high levels of toxicity, showing that toxicity is an issue across the entire gaming community" which will be readily apparent to anyone that, for example, plays any sort of mainstream competitive game, like Call of Duty. In general, gaming can routinely be quite toxic.

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This has led to much conversation about the nature of toxicity in games. Are gamers too toxic in general? Are they too toxic to women? Does toxicity happen everywhere, or does it just happen in certain games?

Toxicity in Video Games

As an industry, gaming certainly has problems. Whether it's reports of heinous harassment over at Activision-Blizzard, what went on at GDC 2023, or anything else, there are many instances of female professionals in games being subject to totally inappropriate behavior oftentimes at the hands of superiors.

However, the story gets a little more complicated when it comes to the toxicity seen in actual video games. The fact of the matter is that any competitive game with voice or text chat is inevitably going to be toxic to, at least, some extent. Think about Call of Duty, once again, and you'll know that to be true.

Though, it becomes more difficult to say if a random gamer in a lobby hurling volatile racial slurs at another guy in the same lobby is 'worse' harassment than if the same guy directs his harassment towards a woman in that lobby to hit on her and make offensive sexual comments about her.

It's not all doom and gloom, though. While toxicity is a common thing in video games, whether you're a man or woman, certain franchises, like Call of Duty or League of Legends or Rust, are known for their toxicity. And while there will inevitably be some level of toxicity in almost any competitive environment, in most games it's not especially overwhelming.

Another important thing to note is that while you can't control the behavior of others, basically all modern games with chat functions easily allow you to mute people you do not like at the press of a button. Essentially, you don't ever have to sit there and listen to somebody's offensive comments.

Toxicity, though, is certainly an issue in gaming, and it's worth talking about, addressing, and minimizing as much as possible.