My brain breaks everything down into systems вЂ“ and I realised, ah, these are game mechanics! I can communicate now!вЂќ Game development combines all this disparate art stuff IвЂ™d been doing into one single thing that I could use to say very specific stuff. вЂњI thought, this is what I want to do for ever. She stuck around and met a few people from the cityвЂ™s indie game development scene. She was offered a photography job in Toronto, but when she got there, the position fell through. She wrote вЂњterribleвЂќ science fiction stories (вЂњin gel-pen!вЂќ) and later started taking photographs. Through her teens, she knew she wanted to do something creative, but didnвЂ™t know what. I just loved those long screenshots of a whole level, where you could see all the items and everything вЂ“ I was so vividly in love with those games.вЂќ вЂњIвЂ™d been stealing Nintendo Power magazines from the library. вЂњDad knew I was a little nerd,вЂќ she says. When Quinn was 12, her dad bought her a 3DO console at a garage sale and she discovered games such as Night Trap and Star Control 2. I used to run around the woods pretending to be Samus Aran, using sticks as swords, imagining I was beating up aliens.вЂќ вЂњA friend of the family gave me a Game Boy when I was very little, and it was amazing. вЂњI grew up in a super small town in upstate New York my nearest neighbour was really far away,вЂќ she says. Zoe Quinn: вЂIвЂ™m scared that itвЂ™s going to take the death of a woman to stop thisвЂ™ Photograph: BBC Despite the trauma she has been through, she still loves games.

She is teary and shaking as she talks, but through it all sheвЂ™s also funny and engaging. What am I going to do вЂ“ go home and just wait until someone makes good on their threats? IвЂ™m scared that what itвЂ™s going to take to stop this is the death of one of the women whoвЂ™s been targeted.вЂќ IвЂ™ve got some asshole in California who IвЂ™ve never talked to hiring a private investigator to stalk me. вЂњI have people online bragging about putting dead animals through my mailbox.

вЂњHow could I go back to my home?вЂќ she asks. SheвЂ™s been staying on friendsвЂ™ couches, at hotels. When I speak to her, Quinn has been in the UK for four days. Quinn and several other women have since had to flee their homes after death and rape threats вЂ“ mostly for pointing out that the games industry has a problem with representing women. It was an alleged relationship between Zoe Quinn and a prominent games journalist that kickstarted the whole furore this summer. The victims of GamergateвЂ™s ire have mostly been female developers, academics and writers. The undercurrent, however, has always been darkly misogynistic. It has even organised mass email campaigns asking major corporations to pull adverts from targeted sites. Gamergate complains about cronyism between certain writers and developers and has taken exception to the progressive sociopolitical leanings of news sources such as Polygon and Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

Gamergate wants video games to be left alone.Д«ut proponents of this movement say their key target is games journalism. Leaderless and chaotic, this ragtag community of self-identifying вЂњhardcoreвЂќ gamers sees its culture under threat from insidious outsiders вЂ“ usually feminists and academics вЂ“ who are challenging the industry on its sometimes questionable representation of violence, minorities and gender. Quinn is in the UK to talk about her work as a games designer, but most people at the event have come to know her as patient zero of Gamergate, the vociferous video game вЂњprotest movementвЂќ that exploded across the internet in August. вЂњI like the weather in England,вЂќ she says absentmindedly. QuinnвЂ™s bright clothes and dyed red and orange hair are a stark contrast to the gloom beyond the window. Outside, above the jagged rows of Victorian shops and houses, the sky is slate grey and a gentle rain has started to fall. Z oe Quinn is sitting uncomfortably on a plastic chair, in a small empty room upstairs from the GameCity festival in Nottingham.

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