This Aguas Point’s article is a polemic. It’s also vague on purpose. The following was inspired by an engaging and lively conversation with the good folks in the Critical Distance Discord.
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For many of us, video games are a solitary activity. Just a bunch of hermits reveling in virtual worlds, away from the real looking for life within code. As you pick up your controller to play your favorite game don’t forget that it took a lot of work from others for you to experience it.
Identity is formed and built around the games we love. Politics also develop as a result of play. Many ignorant players and charlatans believe that their beloved games are being “ruined” by “lazy” developers, “forced” diversity and critical discussion. This could not be further from the truth.
Ten years ago, the Falangists crawled out of the crevasses of the internet to harass developers, critics and players. This was done under the pretense of enforcing a perverse “ethics” deemed lacking in the industry. This was a front. Ethics was a smokescreen, a Mountain Dew fueled fart passed to clear the room and take control of the conversation. These harassment campaigns were tantamount to assaults on the lives of those targeted.
Certain games, players and creators were deemed non grata. People’s lives were ruined. Some even took advantage of the moment—of the idiocy—and gained influence. Game critics were ill-prepared. They lacked the training and the experience to properly deal with the assault. Some even took part and joined the mob decrying the lack of “ethics” in video game journalism.
Ten years later, little has changed. We are in the same spot; the same shithole discourse still proliferates. The Falangists opened the gates of hell in 2014. We never closed them. Frankly, today we might even be worse equipped than in 2014. I can list some reasons: layoffs in the games press, reasonable fear of harassment and doxing, personal preservation, and shrinking spaces to properly discuss and deal with the Falangists. Our main public square is a shameless place. Video games are predominantly discussed on social media platforms and forums by users who hide under anonymity.
So, what is there to be done? First of all, let’s not forget that we live in a society. And sometimes this means making tough decisions. For example, if you’re a writer with influence don’t engage or platform the Falangists. You can, however, ridicule their stupidity.
GamerGate never ended. We are still living through a specific paradoxical, absurd and idiotic malice that inflected our discourse. Yet, we still live in a society. Thus, if writers want to properly write about the Falangists, they should not do so in isolation. It’s dangerous to go alone. We must make a concerted effort not to over-report. We must not chase clout and attention in hell. Bad shit happens if you get spotted. And in a society, the consequences could be felt not by you, but by someone else. Those that you are seeking to defend could be further targeted. In a society, we should be strategic. We should be considerate of those being harassed.
In 2017, Ariel Dorfman wrote an eloquent and salient article in the New York Review of Books about anti-intellectualism in American life. Dorfman begins the article with a retelling of an infamous moment during the Spanish Civil War. In 1936 as the…
“…fascist forces of General Francisco Franco celebrated El Día de la Raza, the Hispanic world’s alternate version of Columbus Day… His Falangist army soon controlled a large part of the country, including Salamanca. It was in the central hall of that ancient city’s university… that the fascists commemorated their “Day of the Race.” In front of numerous dignitaries and emboldened by a mob of nationalist youth and legionnaires, Franco’s friend and mentor General José Millán Astray desecrated that temple of learning with six words: ¡Abajo la inteligencia! ¡Viva la muerte! (“Down with intelligence! Long live death!”)
That phrase—so paradoxical, so absurd, so idiotic.”
Today that phrase rings with a similar echo.
Those who were crusading for “ethics” in video game journalism in 2014 are now decrying DEIA initiatives in game development. They continue to desecrate the public sphere with imbecilic claims and talking points. Their idiocy is as paradoxical and absurd as Millán Astray’s “Down with intelligence!” They are his children.
Let’s not platform the Falangists. Writers should think of ways to organize and better address the issue at hand. We should consider how to best handle the situation and not amplify misinformation campaigns by online groups aimed at game studios, communities and individuals. And if we want to expose their new campaigns, it can’t be done with the motivation of SEO chasing or even by trying to get their side of the matter. We must not all rush to write the same article just to have coverage. For Falangists to be slayed, ego must die. Only then can we begin to address the situation properly. Maybe we can collectively mock them and laugh them out. Naïve maybe, but talking to them and hearing their perspective only spreads the toxicity. Down with the Falangists!
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Want other perspectives and resources on the matter? Here are a few:
The Thing They say they’re mad at never actually matters
La fine di internet è cominciata col Gamergate
It’s 10 years since Gamergate – the industry must now stand up to far-right trolls
Aguas' Points 