Zoe Quinn is the developer behind 2013’s Depression Quest. On August 16, her ex-boyfriend wrote an extensive blog claiming that she had cheated on him with multiple figures in games journalism, in order to boost the publicity of her game. Misogynistic slander was then directed at Quinn. Some journalists responded by decrying the entire gaming public as misogynistic. As things grew more fiery, forums began removing discussion centred around Quinn. This led to the development of a conspiracy theory, of large scale review manipulating in a nepotistic gaming industry. As things grew more chaotic and charged, the one discussion-worthy topic at the heart of the matter — how personal relationships between developers and critics might undermine journalistic integrity — was lost in a flurry of mud-slinging, doxxes, and death threats. We’re left in a confused, angry, and unfortunately very familiar situation. Be it Dickwolves or DRM, controversial issues in the video game community almost inevitably come to a head in absolute clusterfucks such as this. Nothing is resolved, real people are hurt, and the gaming community looks that little bit more immature and ridiculous. The speed at which these things get out of hand is perhaps related to gaming’s uniquely vocal online community. It’s sad that the outcome of this is so regularly such harmful, pointless escalation.