Recently I’ve gotten around trying Overwatch (for the console, I am not investing in a pc) and I am loving it! The game is a first person shooter. I normally don’t enjoy those kinds of games, mainly because I’m not good at them and I don’t intend to get good at them (the reason for that is because competitive gaming is not at all fun, but that’s another topic). If you’re anything like me then you probably mute the chat the moment you find a game online. I make it a habit to mute the chat whenever I join a game in Overwatch, I prefer to play in peace and would rather not engage with strangers who may or may not be friendly. This brings me to my topic: toxic communities.

This term is used exclusively for games with online capabilities. A toxic community suggests that the people playing the game are not friendly and tend to be overly aggressive. I suppose you could consider it part of gamer jargon, although I would argue that calling communities toxic isn’t exclusive to the gaming subculture, but it should be noted that video game communities do hold reputations amongst gamers. I’ve learned that Overwatch’s community is particularly toxic, of course I learned this information from others who do chat online. I must say, I was shocked to hear it; a game as childish and casual looking as Overwatch has a toxic community? I had to see how bad it was for myself, so I decided to unmute the chat for several games.

As I have said before, I am not good at first person shooters and I play for fun; winning isn’t my prerogative, having fun is. Unfortunately, my party did not share my sentiments. The instant I lost, I was bombarded with insults, curses, and yelling. A lot of yelling. This continued for some time, with most of the parties I’ve been in. By game eleven, I decided to leave the game. I was no longer interested in playing, the attacks and annoyances had finally gotten to me and so I turned off the system. I believed them, because I had experienced it: the toxicity of the community was real.

Many gamers are actually deterred by toxic communities, often times the community can make or break purchases. If the community is toxic, others will stop playing, or at least mute the chat. My current strategy for avoiding the toxicity is simply muting the chat, although the experience has left a sour taste in my mouth. I don’t play Overwatch as much as I did, and all it took was joining the chat.