Guild launches ‘No Room for Abuse’ campaign with Sky UK, as survey finds half of female gamers have been harassed when playing

UK-based esports organisation Guild Esports have launched a ‘No Room for Abuse’ campaign in partnership with its Official Premier Partner, Sky UK.

The aim is to ‘champion inclusive gaming environments by raising awareness of the gender-based verbal harassment facing women gamers playing online’.

Sky has provided the funding for promotional activity to support the awareness campaign that will run online across social media channels, including Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Twitch, in addition to the procurement of influencer talent.

Guild said in a press release that this funding is supplemental to Sky’s existing contractual commitments as Guild’s Official Premier Partner, Official HQ Partner, Official Wi-Fi and Broadband Partner and Official Network Provider. The social media campaign, using the hashtag ‘#NoRoomForAbuse’, will begin today following an influencer and media launch event at the Sky Guild Gaming Centre in London.

The influencers in attendance include Stephanie Ijoma, Sunpi, Danielle Udogaranya and Elz the Witch, who began releasing content across their social media channels today.

The influencer and media event comprised an ‘immersive experience’ simulating the verbal harassment that women gamers can face when playing video games online.

The experience, set in a simulation room with 360-degree high-resolution screens and sound, utilised a first-person shooter game format that participants played while being subject to instances of verbal harassment that have been directed at women gamers online (as recreated by voice actors).

Guild and Sky survey shows there’s No Room for Abuse

To further support the campaign, Guild and Sky have conducted a study surveying more than 4,000 gamers to provide an accurate picture of the volume of online verbal harassment women in gaming face, as well as the mental health effects associated.

The results, published today, show that online abuse has significant effects on women gamers’ mental and physical wellbeing:

• 49% of female gamers have experienced some level of abuse or harassment when playing or streaming online, rising to 75% for those aged 18-24.
• 35% of those surveyed said they had received violent messages, and 80% said the messages are often sexual in nature.
• 27% feared being attacked in real life following threats made on gaming platforms.
• 25% said that the abuse had led to feelings of depression, and more than 10% said it gave them suicidal thoughts.

Guild Esports said in a press release of the ‘No Room for Abuse’ campaign: “Almost 50% of gamers are women (according to Statista, 2023) but are a significant target of online abuse and underrepresented in professional play. Guild considers there to be an existing and growing market opportunity to provide a safe space for women online and believes it can capitalise on the underserved audience through the launch of all-female teams. Guild currently fields all-female teams in Valorant and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.”

Jasmine Skee, CEO of Guild Esports, commented: “Improving opportunities for women in esports is a key commitment of our partnership with Sky. While there’s still work to be done, we’re proud to be at the forefront of fostering greater female participation in the sector and creating an inclusive gaming community. We hope that by raising awareness of the abuse affecting female gamers through our #NoRoomForAbuse campaign, alongside a collective effort of support and education, we can make real progress in creating a better gaming experience for all.”

Amber Pine, Managing Director for Broadband and Connectivity at Sky Broadband, said: “While online gaming is known to foster community and many positive online connections, more must be done to ensure it is fully inclusive and a haven for all. The results of this research are shocking and should alarm the gaming community.

“It is completely unacceptable for this type of sexist abuse to be so prevalent. Guild and Sky are determined to improve the experience for women in gaming. We’re calling on players to become allies and stand with us to make clear there is no room for abuse in gaming.”

Stephanie Ijoma, gaming influencer and entrepreneur, added: “As women, the abuse we receive on a daily basis is simply unacceptable, which is why campaigns like this are so important to challenge the gaming community to become part of the change. It’s crucial that we work together in making the online gaming world safer for women as there is absolutely no room for abuse.”

Dom Sacco

Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.

As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.