Constance Steinkuehler, a professor of informatics at the University of California, Irvine, has observed a rise in toxic behavior within online gaming over the past two decades. In response to her experiences and ongoing reports from organizations such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Steinkuehler and her research team conducted a survey of approximately 600 teens and young adults who play online games.
The study aimed to understand how often players encounter hate speech, their roles as bystanders, victims, or perpetrators, and whether certain habits or types of hate lead to normalization of such behavior. The findings were published earlier this year in Frontiers in Psychology.
According to the research, 85 percent of participants reported experiencing some form of hate speech while playing multiplayer online games. This included misogynistic remarks directed at female gamers and derogatory comments about Muslim and Asian players. The data also indicated that male and heterosexual players generally perceived hate speech as less problematic compared to others. Teens tended to laugh off incidents more than adults did, highlighting generational differences shaped by exposure to toxic gamer culture.
Steinkuehler explained: “You can find some lower-level correlations between the amount of game play or the length of game play – you know, how heavy of a gamer you are — and some behaviors that we would call normalizing. But the real patterns that stand out are the strong links between exposure to toxicity and hate and normalizing it. The lesson is clear and hardly new: Harm begets harm begets harm. Game companies may not build hatred and unkindness into their designs overtly, but their lack of guardrails basically platforms cruelty.”
She further noted that harassment is most common in team-based competitive environments where players react strongly if they believe teammates have made mistakes. The anonymity afforded by digital platforms contributes to this environment by allowing individuals to act without accountability.
Steinkuehler also commented on industry responses: “The industry as a whole is mostly just defensive, saying, ‘Well, it’s political speech, so why would we ever want to kick that off the servers. We can’t do that.’ And my response is, ‘Yes, you can.’” She argued that companies have financial incentives for stronger moderation: “We asked how much people would spend on toxic versus nontoxic games and showed empirically that it would be a 75 percent revenue gain if they would simply stop this kind of behavior from happening, which they have the tools to do but don’t.”
Despite these challenges in commercial gaming spaces, Steinkuehler found an alternative model through her involvement with San Quentin Rehabilitation Center’s SkunkWorks program—a prisoner-created nonprofit designed to foster positive social interaction through games inside prison walls.
Inspired by models used in Scandinavian penal systems emphasizing rehabilitation over punishment, SkunkWorks was founded by incarcerated individuals like Kai Bannon with support from outside professionals including Steinkuehler herself. At San Quentin’s game events—such as chess tournaments pairing inmates with correctional staff—participants report increased trust across traditional divides.
Bannon described these efforts: “A lot of the people that are playing games are playing them specifically to be in a safe space… The game space is just a good neighborhood.” He added that collaboration during gaming sessions helps break down barriers among groups typically separated within prison society.
Correctional officer Richard Kruse has also observed benefits from participation: “Personally, it’s had a positive impact on my time on the job… I know for a fact that we’re seeing a reduction in issues across the board at San Quentin.”
Reflecting on her experience with SkunkWorks compared with commercial gaming trends, Steinkuehler said: “Games have this capacity for positive change. I’ve seen it before, but I’ve never seen it in circumstances so dire… The [online] gaming world has become a space that is actually divisive and leaves people feeling less safe… But the people at San Quentin are using games in this completely, dramatically opposite and incredibly productive way.”
