In 2025, we will enter a new era of security by design for our digital playgrounds.
Online games are spaces where billions of people around the world come together to play, socialize and relax. However, these are also environments where harassment, hate speech, grooming for violence, and sexual exploration frequently occur. Today, most online game players report being a direct target or having witnessed one or more of these actions. 2024 report found 82% of players say they have been a direct victim and 88% say they have witnessed a form of so-called “toxic” behavior. Sexual harassment and hate speech are quite common, with over 70% of players reporting witnessing these behaviors while gaming.
In the most extreme cases, gamers face violations of their privacy and right to life, such as when their private personal information is maliciously shared online for the purposes of bullying – which it’s called doxxing. At the start of 2024, for example, a organized hate campaign started against small narrative design studio Sweet Baby Inc. Seen as promoting a “woke agenda” in games with their consulting firm, their employees received numerous rape and death threats.
There are a number of reasons why games have become associated with hatred and discrimination. The biggest factor, however, is the lack of industry-wide innovation. For example, video games are often sidelined in regulatory conversations about online safety. Proprietary data is ownerand (understandably) no company wants to be the first to speak publicly about online harms and safety issues. Games are also, ultimately, businesses. Talking about its shortcomings is unlikely to garner shareholder support.
However, in 2025, we will finally start to see industry-wide efforts prioritizing security. Some of these changes will be due to government mandates. Although video games have long been excluded from regulatory discussions, they are indebted to some of the new initiatives recently passed. For example, the Digital Services Act in the European Union, requires gaming companies operating there to submit public transparency reports on online harms within their spaces and the effectiveness of their tools to combat them. For the first time, this will provide industry-wide insight into strategies and their effectiveness across the entire gaming ecosystem.
In 2025, we will also begin to see the effects of the video game industry’s attempts at self-regulation. Over the past few years, many trust and security initiatives have been launched by the gaming industry itself, as part of an industry-level ecosystem approach. For example, in 2024 we saw the release of Digital Success Playbook from the Thriving in Games group, which provides educational materials and step-by-step guides to game developers on how to build more resilient communities and approaches to trust and safety issues in games. It also includes guides on content moderation and community management approaches, as well as teamwork by design, trust by design, and establishing prosocial behavior in gaming communities.
Last year also saw another breakthrough, with the partnership between Epic Games and the International Coalition on Age Classification create internationally recognized rankings for all user-generated content created for Fortnite. Historically, player-created content was unrated, leaving users to best guess their age from the name, image, and description of the experience. Incorporating a rating system on user-generated content will allow players (and parents) to make more informed decisions about what and how they play. In 2025, other game creators will follow suit to help gamers make informed choices about which (of the billions of) user-generated content is safe and appropriate for them.
Let’s be clear, a safe community does not mean there are no risks. Hatred, harassment, and other forms of social harm will always exist in one form or another online. But in 2025, the video game industry will finally have more coherent security strategies to better protect players from social harm. As the largest media sector in the world, the gaming industry has long awaited this innovation and prioritization of player safety and well-being. In my opinion, 2025 promises to be a transformative year that will set a new standard for security in our digital playgrounds.
