Remember the days when we’d plug in our consoles and play a game, and the only “threat” was running out of snacks? Well, welcome to the new era where Gen Alpha and Gen Z gamers face a whole new challenge—other players.
The world of gaming has undergone a transformative journey over the years, evolving from simple pixelated screens to immersive virtual landscapes. As technology advances, so do the challenges faced by the new generations of gamers—Gen Alpha and Gen Z. Unlike their parents, these young players encounter a unique threat that goes beyond the confines of the gaming console or PC, and those are none other than their rival players.
The rise of online gaming
Forty-five percent of Americans over 50 play video games these days. From arcade games like Tetris and Pong to very immersive games like Grand Theft Auto, these players have seen it all. Even while players were enthralled with the early games, they were generally considered to be somewhat mild. Most of the time, people would play Atari and GameCube in their living rooms by themselves or with friends. They would sporadically engage in cartoon violence that was more humorous than gory.
As we fast-forward, children are now engaging in a vastly different gaming environment. Video game players these days are frequently the targets of abuse and harassment from other players, many of whom are strangers. This is in addition to the graphic, disturbing, and inappropriate information that kids can choose to explore. The most concerning part of modern gaming is user-generated content (UGC)—a new threat that gamers who are children face that their parents did not.
Any content produced by the actual players of a video game, such as message boards, voice chat, usernames, and even metaverse interactions, is referred to as UGC—and it can quickly become ugly. The built-in chat feed in the much-awaited game Silent Hill: Ascension has been described by users as an “absolute cesspit” of uncensored language and slurs. There are also several cases of video games and internet chats serving as “hunting grounds” for sexual predators.
Why UGC is embraced by the gaming industry
UGC has grown to be an essential component of the game experience despite the risks it poses to users. In the name of user popularity and profitability, the gaming industry persists in promoting multiplayer, immersive experiences that prioritise UGC.
Gaming businesses are fiercely competing for user engagement in an attempt to capture the interest of the over 212 million Americans who play video games regularly and increase their market share of $56.6 billion. Research indicates that the most effective approach to do this is through interactive gaming experiences.
Roblox CEO David Baszucki expressed his goal to transform the company’s enormously popular online gaming community into a communications platform for all kinds of virtual engagement and connection at the 2023 Code Conference. Of course, there are advantages to this connection concept, but there are also clear disadvantages, such as potential threats to vulnerable groups’ safety, especially children.
Parents witness directly how UGC negatively affects children
The rise of UGC in video games worries parents. More than half of the American parents who participated in a survey—which included over 1,000 parents who are also gamers—believe that today’s video games pose a greater risk to children than those they played as children, with 44% mentioning in-game UGC as one of the most dangerous elements of the medium.
When they play themselves, more than half of the parents we surveyed had come across alarming and even unlawful instances of UGC, such as unrestrained bullying, hate speech, and predatory conduct. With 42% of parents observing negative effects on their child’s mental health from playing video games, gamer parents believe this content can do actual harm.
The message is clear: parents are more worried about user-generated content than they are about the effects of hyper-realistic in-game experiences, which have been shown to have no negative offline effects.
What parents are requesting and potential changes to UGC
Notwithstanding the hazards, parents also list many advantages of their child playing video games, such as improving social and spatial thinking skills and providing them with a positive sense of community.
Nevertheless, a majority of 66% of parents who are avid gamers wish to counterbalance these advantages with improved capabilities on their gaming consoles that enable more efficient management of offensive content. Developers should implement mechanisms to limit the amount of time children spend on screens, disable chat, enable privacy settings to control their interactions, and restrict access to video games based on maturity ratings to protect all players.
While there should undoubtedly be a zero-tolerance approach for offences like sexual grooming, gaming businesses also ought to provide more space for remedial repair, given that young players may be more susceptible to poor impulse control. Gamer chat service Discord is moving toward a more nuanced approach to inappropriate behaviour that takes into account the gravity of the violation and focuses on rehabilitation, while gaming giant Ubisoft just produced a handbook designed to assist players in addressing their own toxic behaviours online.
Safeguarding upcoming participants
Online gaming will include more, not less, in-game player involvement in the future. Users are coming up with new ways to connect in all virtual environments, and the Metaverse is still happening despite staggering income losses.
Player-to-player interaction will be embraced by the gaming industry more and more; therefore, it will need to be cautious about the possible risks associated with UGC and how it affects consumers, especially kids. We need to address the growing risks of in-game UGC now before it’s too late. Parents are the ones who choose which video games their children play, so they are aware of this hazard.
(Tashia Bernardus)