Valorant Already Has Sexist Harassment Issues And They’re Looking for Long-term Solutions
Today’s🍵: It’s like this MOST of the time on solo queue voice comms REGARDLESS of the game I’m playing. I usually don’t give in to this like in the video; I’m silent in an attempt to not incite more. Inevitably you get to a point where you have to mute them. More perspective: pic.twitter.com/7ruWcI78tL
— Tea! 🍵 (@Evergreenily) April 24, 2020
Valorant is one of the hottest games on Twitch right now, especially when it comes to team-based first-person shooter. The game isn’t even officially out yet as it’s in beta but it already is facing sexist harassment issues, particularly towards female gamers.
Details come from League of Legends UX designer Riot Greenily, who shared a brief clip of her Twitch livestream which shows a guy verbally harassing her in Valorant. It’s also not the first time she had this experience as she mentioned that “It’s like this MOST of the time on solo queue voice comms REGARDLESS of the game I’m playing.” You can view the clip on the tweet at the top of this post.
Gross, this is creepy as hell. This is why I can’t solo. I’m so sorry. We’re absolutely looking into long-term solutions for making it safe to play VALORANT – even solo queue!
— Anna Donlon (@RiotSuperCakes) April 24, 2020
The tweet has caught the attention of the game’s executive producer, Anna “SuperCakes” Donlon, who chimed in with promises of change in the game to make it a safer environment for female gamers. To be precise, it appears that they’re looking for long-term solutions to combat the issue, even in solo queue.
Valorant Developer Shares Her Experience with Sexist Harassment
This dude just wouldn’t let up. He kept calling me a liar, that I’m actually a dude. He told me to “save [my] ideas for the kitchen.” About half way through the match, he asked if I’m single. By the end of the match, he repeatedly asked if he could add me. He proposed to me.
— Riot aeneia (@aeneiaa) April 24, 2020
The tweet has gained enough attention which lead to more female game developers sharing their experience with sexist harassment in online games. The insight and strategy analyst for Valorant, Riot Aeneia, shared her experience as seen in the tweet above. She also mentioned that simply muting them can be problematic as it’s essentially “strategic sabotage” for their team.
Riot Games’ new team-based shooter is certainly growing in popularity but with that, it inevitably attracts all these issues. Solving this as quickly and as efficiently as possible will ensure that the game doesn’t lose its momentum and will continue growing over a long period of time.
Pokdepinion: They could mute them or simply report them but that won’t solve the underlying issue. People can be such a-holes but we also need to do our part so that these a-holes don’t get their way.
