Gamergate

Gamergate is a controversy centered on journalistic ethics, censorship and accusations of sexism in the video gaming community among others. It came to a head in August 2014 due to personal attacks on game creators Zoe Quinn, Brianna Wu, and game culture critic Anita Sarkeesian.

This conflict has seen harassment, doxxing (revealing of private info), and death/rape threats on both sides of the debate. Various social media forums have likewise become heated battlegrounds regardless of which side they're supporting or not.

Two general camps have emerged:


 * Pro-Gamergaters - They view this as a war against questionable ethics in video game journalism, feeling it is imperative to expose favoritism and and corruption in the gaming press (often simplified to plain "paid reviews" - some of those were exposed not long before the scandal). Over time, this has extended to fighting against censorship and defending free expression in gaming and elsewhere.


 * Anti-Gamergaters - They see this as an attack on women (both transgender and birth gender women) in the gaming industry, prompted by misogyny in the gamer culture, and thus the accusations of corruption in gaming journalism are merely a shroud for this aforementioned goal of marginalizing women in the gaming culture. They also tend to view this as a reactionary backlash to what they see as an increasingly diverse and progressive gaming culture.


 * Depression Quest - An interactive browser game in Flash by Zoe Quinn centered around the issue of helping the clinically depressed protagonist overcome that depression.
 * Oppression Quest - A parody of the above, focusing instead more on the motives of the creator of Depression Quest (though she is never referred to by name)
 * Afterlife Empire - A strategy puzzle game published by The Fine Young Capitalists, who were involved in a previous controversy informally named the "Quinnspiracy".
 * Social Justice Warriors - A game lampooning social media drama and SJWs.
 * Project SOCJUS - A work-in-progress game directly inspired by GG and featuring Vivian James as one of the main characters.


 * Anthropomorphic Personification: Vivian James, after a fashion. Aside from being associated with the /v/ boards in both 4chan and 8chan, though her origins are traced back to 4chan and a group called The Fine Young Capitalists, she's sometimes affectionately used to symbolize modern gaming.
 * And sometimes used as a Straw Character by anti-GG, corrupting her established carefree personality.
 * Over time, other personifications have emerged such as Gilda Mars (meant to embody Reddit) and the DeepFreeze siblings.
 * Author Tract: The infamous "Gamers are Dead" pieces that came out on August 2014 (which contributed to GG exploding in the first place) and subsequent variations later on.
 * Conspiracy Theory: Accusations relating to some events in Zoe Quinn and Brianna Wu's lives at the time can only reliably be classified as this.
 * Elephant in the Living Room: A common sentiment early in GG was the view that completely ignoring unethical, censorous and questionable behavior, it would mean preventing those partaking in them of a platform with which to work from, thus supposedly propagating those very problems in the first place. Over time, this has proven itself to not work.
 * Within GG-related discussions, discussing current politics can at times be awkward, which could lead to the occasional heated debate.
 * Enemy Civil War: The slander and accusations certain SJWs and prominent anti-GG throw against each other can come across as this to pro-GG.
 * Epic Fail: The Cyber Violence Against Women and Girls report released in 2015 garnered this reaction from GG discussions due to how disingenuous and utterly inept it is.
 * Flame War: Taking sides guarantees you will be one side or the other of this.
 * Go Mad From the Revelation: One explanation given by pro-GG as to why discussions and topics can at times come across as lighthearted and outright irreverent is because it's a good way to avoid this trope. According to the argument, it's better to sometimes keep one's fun, sanity and to laugh at the ludicrousness of the whole situation than to lose oneself in just how serious it all is.
 * Godwin's Law: Almost from the very beginning, accusations were thrown against pro-GG as being akin to not only Nazis, but also ISIS and other terrorist groups.
 * He Who Fights Monsters: Certain "e-celebs," whether out of ego or a desire to thoroughly crush the opposition, have wound up becoming the very thing they're purportedly fighting against. At times, this can reach a point wherein both sides ostracise them in disgust.
 * History Repeats: In addition to GG being one of the latest manifestation of the culture wars, pro-GG supporters point out how the narratives and arguments being presented are more than a little reminiscent of those touted by the moral guardians and anti-video game violence crusaders of yesteryear.
 * Insult Backfire: Some of the slander and accusations thrown against GG backfired spectacularly. One particular example is how the term "shitlord" turned from insult into a badge of pride among pro-GG.
 * Ironic Echo: Among of the logos displayed on the pro-GG KotakuInAction subreddit is Vivian James done in the style of Kotaku's original, "problematic" logo, highlighting just how hypocritical that particular site is.
 * Morton's Fork: One accusation from pro-GG is that at times, the arguments thrown against GG are framed such that regardless of the option one chooses, it's always in anti-GG's favor.
 * My God What Have I Done?: A noteworthy example coming from moderator and editor Ian Miles Cheong, who had previously endorsed anti-GG.
 * Not So Different: Subverted. While there has been much in the way of drama, slinging and tension on both sides, over time the differences had long since grown more pronounced. Reaching the point that any attempt to find equal footing for all parties involved risks sliding into accusations of false equivalency.
 * In various discussions, there's a tendency to notice how similar the likes of Jack Thompson and Anita Sarkeesian, just to name a few, can be in terms of their arguments and mindsets despite ostensibly coming from opposing sides of the political spectrum.
 * Political Correctness Gone Mad: Increasingly prominent in pro-GG discussions is how political correctness and similar trends had contributed to the current state of games journalism, the gaming industry and society in general. Some would argue still that this trope was what made something like GG almost inevitable.
 * Punny Name: Vivian James is named after "video games."
 * Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment: Enforced on most websites that wish to discuss this in anything resembling a relatively neutral (not fanning the Flame War) fashion.
 * Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Some posters of 4chan, following a growing trend of censorship (which include GG-related topics) ended up migrating to a newly established imageboard called 8chan.
 * Serious Business: Both sides regard this event in this fashion.
 * Small Name, Big Ego: Sometimes the drama on both sides can stem from certain "e-celebs" more interested in stirring up trouble or bolstering their own ego than anything else of note.
 * Strawman News Media: The response and reaction to GG from certain people not just in games journalism but media at large has brought this issue into the limelight. Particularly in relation to Types 3 and 4, due to the allegations of clickbait and ideological narrative-pushing.
 * Suspiciously Specific Denial: Early on, those implicated in the initial incident insisted that there was no collusion, let alone ethical breaches involved. Which proved hollow when some of those same people openly admitted it.
 * We ARE Struggling Together: Over time, there's been the occasional if at times fierce debate among pro-GG camps on whether to stick strictly on ethics in games journalism or incorporate other issues considered relevant, such as similar situations in other fandoms and political correctness to name a few. On the other hand, such discussions have allowed pro-GG to remain focused and intellectually diverse while also making compromises when necessary.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: #notyourshield, a hashtag movement made to debunk anti-GG accusations, dropped off the face of the Earth since May 2015.