UNITY FOR GAMES
Toxicity in Multiplayer Games Report
Every single day, millions of people log in to connect and play the games they love with friends and strangers across the globe. Multiplayer experiences and creating a community within a game has become a huge part of the industry and keeps players coming back, but what happens if that experience turns sour?
Toxic behavior and malicious players can cause immense damage to a player base and success of a game, potentially even harming a studio’s entire reputation. These issues can be addressed and understanding why and how these attitudes develop is crucial for the continued growth and success of online gaming.
One of our goals at Unity is to empower creators with solutions to tame disruptive behaviors and promote positive and engaging communities within our games. That’s why we’ve commissioned The Harris Poll to uncover new insights around toxicity in multiplayer games.
Our key findings are listed below, but be sure to download the full report for more actionable insights and suggestions on how developers can help change online communities for the better.
Key takeaways:
- Nearly three- quarters of multiplayer gamers (72%) have witnessed toxic behavior towards others while playing multiplayer video games, with two in three (68%) experiencing it themselves.
- The most toxic game genres reported by players are shooters (61%), battle royales (35%), and fighting games (21%).
- About two-thirds of multiplayer gamers who have witnessed or experienced toxic behavior (66%) say they have ignored toxic behavior (43%) or quit playing entirely (43%) when toxic behavior arises while playing multiplayer video games.
- Women are more likely than men to say they would be likely (72% vs. 62%) or very likely (40% vs. 28%) to stop playing a multiplayer video game if another player were exhibiting toxic behavior
- More than 3 in 4 multiplayer gamers (77%) agree that more solutions to reduce toxicity are needed to create safer online gaming environments, with more than 1 in 3 (35%) saying they strongly agree with this.
- Players getting suspended from playing for a period of time if they exhibit toxic behavior (44%) tops the list of solutions multiplayer gamers think should be implemented and enforced, followed by players getting ejected from games (42%), and getting banned from games (42%) if they exhibit toxic behavior.