The world’s first rating system monitoring racism, gender discrimination and the overall toxicity in online gaming communities.
78% of respondents reported experiencing toxicity playing Call of Duty online.
Racism: 75%
Gender discrimination: 67%
Direct violent threats: 90%
Sexual content: 74%
Crude humour: 79%
Controlled substances conversation: 82%
Call of Duty is a video game series and media franchise published by Activision.
76% of respondents reported experiencing toxicity playing Fortnite online.
Racism: 69%
Gender discrimination: 66%
Direct violent threats: 85%
Sexual content: 80%
Crude humour: 84%
Controlled substances conversation: 73%
Fortnite is an online video game and game platform developed by Epic Games.
62% of respondents reported experiencing toxicity playing Minecraft online.
Racism: 56%
Gender discrimination: 54%
Direct violent threats: 78%
Sexual content: 64%
Crude humour: 68%
Controlled substances conversation: 54%
76% of respondents reported experiencing toxicity playing Apex Legends online.
Racism: 74%
Gender discrimination: 65%
Direct violent threats: 85%
Sexual content: 83%
Crude humour: 80%
Controlled substances conversation: 67%
Apex Legends is a free-to-play battle royale-hero shooter game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts.
77% of respondents reported experiencing toxicity playing Valorant online.
Racism: 70%
Gender discrimination: 66%
Direct violent threats: 83%
Sexual content: 87%
Crude humour: 77%
Controlled substances conversation: 77%
Valorant is a free-to-play first-person tactical hero shooter developed and published by Riot Games.
You have a 50% chance of experiencing toxicity playing Animal Crossing online.
Racism: 51%
Gender discrimination: 46%
Direct violent threats: 46%
Sexual content: 57%
Crude humour: 51%
Controlled substances conversation: 49%
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a social simulation game developed and published by Nintendo.
You have a 52% chance of experiencing toxicity playing Rocket League online.
Racism: 60%
Gender discrimination: 50%
Direct violent threats: 40%
Sexual content: 50%
Crude humour: 60%
Controlled substances conversation: 50%
Rocket League is a vehicular soccer video game developed and published by Psyonix.
You have a 76% chance of experiencing toxicity playing Destiny 2 online.
Racism: 69%
Gender discrimination: 88%
Direct violent threats: 75%
Sexual content: 81%
Crude humour: 81%
Controlled substances conversation: 63%
Destiny 2 is a free-to-play online first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie.
You have a 60% chance of experiencing toxicity playing Grand Theft Auto Online.
Racism: 57%
Gender discrimination: 67%
Direct violent threats: 57%
Sexual content: 62%
Crude humour: 57%
Controlled substances conversation: 57%
Grand Theft Auto Online is an online multiplayer action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games.
The Toxicity Rating was created to inform gamers and parents of what kind of content they can expect to encounter while playing online. And call attention to the fact that the gaming community desperately needs change to be an inclusive safe space for all who play.
Video games are assigned age and content ratings by the The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) — letting parents and the over 3 billion people that play online games make informed decisions.
But these ratings are missing one crucial rating for parents: how toxic is the online gaming community?
That’s why we launched the Toxicity Rating. A rating providing information about each gaming community and what gamers may experience while playing online games.
We surveyed hundreds of gamers that take part in online gaming communities every day. They were asked how often they’re exposed to racism, gender discrimination, violence (towards others), sexual content, crude humour and controlled substances while gaming. Individual online games were assigned toxicity ratings based on their responses. These will help inform gamers, parents and the general public of the things gamers are exposed to while playing some of the biggest online games.
Melanin Gamers is a change-maker organization dedicated to increasing diversity and inclusion in the video game industry. The organization strives to provide a safe space, both online and in real life, for people of colour to come together and feel represented. Melanin Gamers hopes to contribute to lasting change in the video game industry that reflects players from all walks of life.
