Hypersexualization, Gamergate, & Influencing the Industry: The Storied History of Women’s Identity & Sexuality in Gaming 

From the beginning of the gaming industry, sex and sexuality have been a part of the medium. An early game designed only for adults was 1981’s Softporn Adventure which was targeted at straight men. The first erotic video game was developed by a husband and wife in Japan who launched the game in 1982. It was the first video game to include sexually explicit graphics. 

Over the last three decades, erotic games have continued to be developed. Many can now be found and played online. While many are still aimed at straight men, there is an increasing representation of all sexual identities within the video game space. Many games today have downloadable modifications or “mods, ” allowing players to view uncensored graphics or explore sexual storylines. But, these are not available within the base game. 

However, even outside of these specifically adult games practically designed to pair with your favorite sex toy, some games include sex in a toned down way. Sims includes an action called “WooHoo” where Sims disappears into the bed and love hearts shoot out. The same action can result in Sims becoming pregnant. The most current version of the Sims allows players to romance people of any gender. 

Still, where does a woman’s sexual exploration come into gaming? It is complicated and not always a pleasant story. But, thankfully, the outlook is positive because there are more female-identifying video game developers today than at any other time. More games are also marketed to both men and women as well as specifically to women. Erotic games have often been a more welcoming space for women, especially when wanting to explore their sexuality and find a new way to enjoy porn. 

Hypersexualization Breeds A Toxic Environment: The Beginning 

Early video games—whether or not they had any sexual component—often involved scantily clad women, sexual references, or sometimes nudity used as rewards. While inherently there is nothing wrong with this as long as the game is appropriately rated, women were constantly oversexualized in situations and games where it was unnecessary. Men—while occasionally similarly sexualized—did not face the same objectification overall. With early gaming largely having primarily a male audience, this bred a toxic environment of toxic masculinity and oversexualized feminity. 

Therefore, women often faced an unwelcoming environment when they began gaming more. This could range from undermining their skills to sexual harassment to stalking. Certain gaming environments were better than others and women did start to carve out their segments where it felt safer and more welcome. 

Gamergate & Continued Misogyny In Video Games 

“Gamergate” is a term that refers to a harassment campaign of specific women in gaming and game development who sought to bring feminist ideals and progressive ideals to video games. Zoë Quinn—a game developer who created a game that simulated her experience with depression—was the initial target of the harassment. It started as a personal attack from an ex-boyfriend who implied their joint sexual relationship with a reporter for gaming websites was to obtain a favorable review of her game. This was false but led to Quinn receiving thousands of threats and being unable to safely attend gaming events. 

Two later targets of the Gamergate campaign—Anita Sarkeesian and Brianna Wu—received rape and death threats for their contributions to gaming, journalism, or for criticizing Gamergate. The FBI became involved with Sarkeesian’s case after an event at a Utah university received three different threats of violence linked to Gamergate. Wu was viciously doxxed and was diagnosed with PTSD due to her experiences. As of 2021, The Washington Post reported that she continued to receive harassment, though some did begin to apologize. 

The height of Gamergate took place in 2014 and 2015. While many people within the gaming sphere did take steps to improve the environment for women in gaming, Unfortunately, misogynistic attacks do still occur, especially toward minority women. 

Swatting 

Swatting refers to a form of harassment that involves calling in a false threat or emergency, often a hostage situation or similarly volatile situation. When police and SWAT show up to the unsuspecting house, it catches those inside off guard and puts them in real danger of being harmed. This is commonly done to live streamers so the caller can see the fallout or the person abruptly ends their stream. 

Doxxing 

Doxxing is not specific to the gaming community and is when a person’s private information is publicly posted to threaten or harass them. This happened during Gamergate and many states have now instituted laws against doxxing. 

Influencers Bring New Hope To The Gaming Industry 

Women are becoming more prominent, vocal, and visible in the gaming industry. The number of women identifying game developers is up 21%. Also, many popular gaming influencers are women including Pokimane and Valkyrae. Several other influencers have side gaming channels or occasionally participate in gaming such as Jenna Marbles and Bella Poarch. 

Better representation among women in gaming has brought new hope to the future of the gaming industry. Games themselves have also become more accepting of minorities with many love simulation games now including characters of all genders and letting the player choose which they want to romance. 

Pairing Video Games & Sex In Everyday Life 

With the darkened haze of misogyny hanging over the gaming community, is it still possible to enjoy sexual games? Absolutely! There are many sex-positive games and erotic games created by women. As women have become a bigger chunk of the gaming market, roleplay games have boomed in popularity. Roleplay games often include a romantic element, and when made specifically for adults, sometimes a sexual one as well. 

Not to mention, there is no reason you cannot pair erotic video games with real-life sex toys. Whether solo or with a partner, games offer a chance to add fun and spice to the bedroom. Bring in an element of competition or use it as foreplay.  

Additionally, many animators make erotic porn using game characters which can be found on places like Reddit and sometimes traditional porn websites. This allows for individualized sexualization of the character even when not playing the game and without bringing an erotic element to the game. 

The Future Of Erotic Games 

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is bringing an all-new experience to erotic gaming. Perhaps, one day, erotic roleplay games will be more than just an imaginative experience, but also a physical one. An AI video game could be more customizable than ever before and be outfitted with a variety of sex toys for an intense and fun sexual experience. 

AI is also slated to have other benefits on our sex lives outside of video games: 

Promote better sexual well being 

Provide better sex education tools and models 

Customized settings for sex toys that account for a person’s anatomy, gender, preferences, and desires 

Make cybersex and long distance sex easier and more fulfilling 

Adaptable to partners, couples, or groups 

Create reactive sex toys that respond to a person’s physical and emotional responses 

New accessibility options such as voice activated sex toys 

Sex that is safe by design 

Hyper-realistic roleplay and scenarios 

Potential treatments for certain sexual disorders and conditions that may affect a person’s sex life 

Erosscia Is For Everyone 

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People of all genders and identities can benefit from an Erosscia vibrator. We refuse to gatekeep our product by limiting ourselves to the known market for vibrators. Adult people all around the world have tried and love Erosscia’s line of vibrator toothbrush attachments. 

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