Gaming is often seen as a male activity, but Wil Wheaton wants women to feel welcome too.
Wheaton is not a fan of online bullying in any form and encouraged both the gaming industry and players to accept and embrace women players.
“What’s happening to women just now online is just an extension of what happens to women all the time out in the world,” said Wheaton. “Every woman I know has at one point been menaced or felt threatened by a man.”
The actor is heartened by those who stand up against this type of behavior. “But I think one of the hopeful things that we’ve seen has been a clear, unambiguous, massive majority of people saying that this is unacceptable and it has to stop,” he said.
Game publishers also need to get on board with the fact that women are interested in gaming too. “Ten years ago there was an idea that women didn’t play games,” said Wheaton. “That’s clearly incorrect, but to some people there’s still an idea that if you make a game that isn’t exclusionary of women then you’re somehow threatening gaming – that’s super-childish.
“The industry needs to grow up and stop treating women as an anomaly.”
Source: The Guardian
