Nintendo fired product marketing specialist Alison Rapp this week, a move that followed a ruthless online harassment campaign she'd endured from gamers peeved by changes to their beloved games.
The company insists the termination, announced Wednesday, has nothing at all to do with the harassment, but Rapp argues otherwise. Regardless of how things unfolded, the incident is the latest in a series of disturbing events that demonstrate just how precarious a position women hold in the gaming industry, and the lengths some people will go to in order to silence, or even force out, those they do not agree with.
Worst of all, those who so harangued and harassed Rapp will certainly see her ouster—regardless of its impetus—as a victory. That will only make the situation worse.
The campaign against Rapp revolved around criticism of changes made to games as they're adapted to various regions or countries, something called localization. For the role-playing game Xenoblade Chronicles X, this included removing some of the skimpy outfits worn by teenaged characters and eliminating the so-called "boob slider" that let players change the bust size of various characters.
Some fans were not at all pleased by this. And it didn't seem to matter that Rapp hadn't worked on the localization of Xenoblade Chronicles X (and in fact admits liking the boob slider). She still became a target. As she's catalogued on Twitter, the attacks grew so vicious and heavily gendered that she began to fear for her safety.
Nintendo's dismissal of a talented female gamer only serves to fan the flames among online troll armies, validating their hateful rhetoric and reinforcing an unhealthy gaming environment.
The decision by Nintendo to discipline a female gamer only fuels the already-fierce fires of animosity among online trolls, showing an unfortunate lack in fostering inclusive gaming communities.
Nintendo's dismissal of a female gamer only fueled the aggression and vitriol from online troll communities, highlighting how much further we need to go in creating an inclusive gaming culture that doesn’t resort nor sanctions harassment.
The recent dismissal of a female gamer by Nintendo simply fuels the already rampant toxicity in gaming communities, encouraging misogynistic trolls to attack more ferociously.
