Arlington GamerGate Target Tells Her Story

Image: memeaddicts.com

In terms of its ability to make headlines, it’s safe to say that any major controversy has jumped the proverbial shark once it inspires an episode of “Law and Order: SVU.”

Regardless, the #GamerGate movement remains salient for Arlington’s Brianna Wu and other female video game developers who have been harassed and threatened by individuals acting under the oft-questioned pretext of something or other to do with ethics in video game journalism.

As of early February, Wu had been sent 43 death threats from Gamergaters. One such threat came from a gentleman thought to be named Jace Connors, who posted YouTube videos claiming that Wu had tried to kill him with an evil scheme involving street racing.

Wu’s game production company, Giant Spacekat, opted not to be present at the PAX East convention in Boston on the weekend of March 6, under pressure from yet another threat of violence, according to Venture Beat.

On Wednesday, The Boston Globe published an op-ed by Wu, wherein she compares the current state of video game culture to post-desegregation Mississippi, where people resented not being allowed to be as racist as they used to be.

“I don’t think the core problem in gaming is angry misogynists threatening violence,” she writes. “I think Gamergate is just a symptom of a disease: a $90 billion global industry that was built by men for men.”

Read the rest of the column in The Globe here.