SweetieGames

When you enjoy reading about and discussing gaming online, you are bound to come across a toxic side to the gaming community at some point. Whether that be people making fun of girl gamers, making fun of minorities or anything that makes a person different. There’s definitely been progress made towards more accepting gaming spaces, but there’s no denying that there’s still work to do.

Something that you may come across in the gaming community is “cringe compilations”. YouTube videos and TikToks dedicated to making fun of people for certain traits, behaviours or situations. I’ve never liked these, and they’re especially prevalent in the world of gaming. Many gamers point the finger and laugh at things that they deem to be “cringe”.

These compilations are harmful; they are a thinly veiled excuse to laugh at autistic people.

It’s no secret that the vast majority of the victims in these videos are autistic people enjoying (or getting stressed about) their chosen hobby. They may post the videos online themselves, the same way anybody else posts a TikTok or YouTube video, but others are recorded in lobbies without their knowledge or consent in order to be posted and laughed at. It truly makes me sad that people such as myself can’t allow ourselves to be unapologetically autistic, allow ourselves to participate in autistic joy online without someone calling us “cringe” or thinking it’s appropriate to laugh at us. It’s already tough to exist as a neurodivergent person in a neurotypical world, and sometimes even our hobbies and interests aren’t safe spaces from ridicule.

I hate to break it to people who enjoy making fun of other people, but neurodivergent people don’t just play games; a lot of them make games. According to statistics from Ukie in 2022, 18% of game developers in the UK identified as neurodivergent. which is more than 15% of the general population. 4% of people identified as autistic, which is double the amount of representation in the general population. There’s a good chance that the games you enjoy have been made with the help of a neurodivergent person, or multiple neurodiverse people.

Gaming has drawn in neurodiverse fans for as long as its existed. I’ve previously discussed what draws neurodivergent fans to particular game series, but gaming as a whole has been enjoyed by autistic people for a very long time, and will continue to for the foreseeable future. For me, the ability to have control over a character or activity in a game is very relaxing. I like being able to choose what to do, I like figuring out puzzles, and I like that there’s predetermined outcomes. Playing my favourite games really helps me regulate myself as I know what’s going to happen next. Gaming sometimes allows me to partake in conversations with other players or NPCs without expending my real life social battery, which tends to drain pretty fast. There are loads of reasons why autistic people enjoy gaming; we should feel as welcome in the space as anyone else. We’re just trying to have fun here, just like you!

I am a firm believer that “cringe culture” is, or should be, dead. There is nothing “cringe” about loving what you love, as long as it’s not hurting anyone. We shouldn’t be made to feel like we can’t post online like everyone else just because there’s horrible people out there. Let everyone enjoy what they enjoy; it’s not cringe!