A game company wants to release a game called Gamer Girl, where players protect a female streamer from attacks by trolls and stalkers as a moderator. However, real Twitch streamers find this so annoying and inappropriate that the development team is now withdrawing the game.
This is the game: The game is called “Gamer Girl” and comes from Wales Interactive. A teaser trailer briefly presents the basic concept:
- The player is a moderator who moderates a streamer’s channel and is repeatedly asked for decisions and ideas.
- The streamer “Abicake99” appears to be a typical Twitch streamer who is apparently being stalked. Her friend Becky has mysteriously disappeared, and her surroundings warn her against starting to stream again. However, she does it anyway.
The company says: Wales Interactive states that they have researched for 4 years on the game and spoken to dozens of female streamers who reported their experiences of being attacked and harassed online.
The lead actress of the game, Alexandra Burton, was also a co-author.
Much Criticism Already on the Trailer for Gamer Girl
This was the reaction: Twitch streamers launched a furious attack on the game.
The largest streamer on Twitch, Pokimane, expressed amusement that the game is named “Gamer Girl” and that the girl in the trailer plays something like Mario Kart for only 0.2 seconds. She would have preferred to call the game “Streamer Girl” instead.
The criticism also carries the frustration that it is hard for women on Twitch to be recognized as gamers and to gain appreciation. Often the accusation is made that men only watch if the women are attractive. Pokimane has faced this herself: She was accused of exploiting lonely men on Twitch.
“gamer girl”
>pretends to play scuffed mario kart for .2 seconds— pokimane (@pokimanelol) July 17, 2020
The streamer Melody finds the whole game tasteless, as female streamers are currently truly threatened by stalkers.
For instance, the Twitch streamer Sweet Anita constantly faces trouble with a stalker. According to her accounts, the police can do little in this case and recommend that she stop streaming.
The streamer Melody says: Gamer Girl is not a game; it is the life of female streamers and their real experiences.
Another Twitter user suggests that such a game could only be conceived by a company with exclusively male employees. Ouch.
The role of the player is also criticized. As the player does not play the threatened streamer, but a moderator, practically a “protector.” Such men are apparently more often a problem for streamers.
It is said: “Creepy men shouldn’t need more reasons for how they can ‘save’ women.” That would be the worst part of the game (via twitter).
The e-sports journalist Rod Breslau, who posted the trailer on Twitter and triggered the backlash, called the game a “SIMPULATOR” (via twitter) – a Simp is a derogatory term on Twitch for a man who endlessly chases after a woman.
Company Withdraws Announcement of Gamer Girl
This is how the developers react: The developers seem quite remorseful. They say they created the game to raise awareness of the toxic environment that arises from the anonymity of the internet and how a moderator can help.
However, the reactions to the trailer were so negative that the company has removed the trailer from YouTube. The blog post for the game is no longer live either. Even the press kit has been deleted, writes PC Gamer.
