How you feel about being harassed in a game can vary. For a lot of players, it’s nothing but gentle ribbing, part and parcel with a competitive environment that doesn’t actually mean anything literal. For many others, it can feel gross and personal and ruin their experience. Of the many reasons the video game community has been slow to talk about harassment among players, that argument is among the most prominent. But some games seem to engender that trash talk more than others.
Based on responses to a survey conducted by the Anti-Defamation League on the subject of harassment in video games, the organization has compiled a list of which games are the most likely to result in harassment from other players. This is far from an exhaustive list, as players picked games from 15 options rather than writing in their own answers, but it does paint a picture that isn’t particularly dissuaded by popular reputation.
Dota 2 was cited by 79 percent of respondents as the game the most respondents mentioned being harassed in. The following games all tied at 75 percent: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Overwatch, and League of Legends.
“Among online game players who experienced harassment, 53 percent reported being targeted based on their race, religion, ability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or ethnicity,” ADL states in their report. “An alarming 29 percent of online game players have been doxed in an online game, meaning that their personal or private information was publicly exposed against their wishes.”
The full report also breaks down the demographics of the respondents and which people tend to be harassed more often than others.
