I was asked to investigate ethical issues that may impact the subject of my investigation, “Why are Gaming companies hated?” This is an important thing to investigate as their are several ethical issues that impact some of the companies I have chosen to pursue.
How has society shaped the subject i’m investigating?
Society has shaped the subject I am investigating in various different ways, such as the fact that the gaming companies themselves reputation wasn’t always as scorned as they currently are, they have moulded their morals around the general populaces, pandering to the masses shifts in ethics, this is most notable when something like Modern Warfare 2’s controversial No Russian mission, which is a mission that portrays the player as a terrorist that shoots many civilians in an airport, this is an example of how gaming companies have been shaped throughout the days as something like this would never be created nowadays, as culture seems to have shifted more towards PC culture, especially in gaming.
Are there any political influences present?
There are several political influences present in the reasons why hatred of gaming companies is so strong, a notable one would be some political agendas that may be pushed and negatively portrayed in the games created by these companies, allowing for said companies owners/founders to subtly push an agenda if they so choose, this could impact the games themselves as they may impact the players viewpoints and belief, games such as these which have politically motivated gameplay are usually hated fiercely by the community, games such as Mafia 3 (which investigates systemic racism within America) and Watch Dogs 2 (Investigates marginalization of African Americans in America) where supported due to the main game being premised around such ideas, instead of it being put in the game purely to appease and pander.
Are there any ethical concerns?
Some gaming companies are hated because they are unethical in their business practices, such as EA, who are notoriously hated for their shady Lootbox “Surprise Mechanics” within their games, which players pay ingame money (which is often hard to come by without hours of time invested daily) to get lootboxes, which can also conveniently be bought for real life money instantly, these lootboxes often have completely random rewards and more often than not reward nothing of value to the player (atleast in comparison to what they believe the money they spent is worth) some people would call this gambling for children as it incentivizes the player to spend real life money if they wish to have the best chances of receiving the best items available, without having to spend countless hours grinding the game.