Online gaming represents one of the biggest and fastest growing industries globally with over 900 million gamers. Its growth is not only attributed to the development of online games and communities, but also to the game hosting and adjacent communications platforms that have been specifically designed for gamers and gaming, including Steam, Stadia, Twitch, Discord, and DLive.

Much research has been done to determine the impact of games on those who play them. While games have a positive impact on many lives – not only providing entertainment but also opportunities to connect – there is some evidence to suggest that games can increase social isolation and access to harmful content. Meanwhile, there is also evidence to suggest that games
can change how (young) people behave online – both in terms of how they engage and interact with others, and what information or content they find appealing, more likely to be drawn to gamified language, content and experiences.

Violent extremists increasingly use gaming elements in their radicalisation and recruitment efforts. Over the past year or two there have been a string of terrorist attacks with gamified elements. The livestreamed terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, and various subsequent attacks which have followed a similar modus operandi in Pittsburgh, El Paso, Halle and Buffalo, demonstrate the increasing use and popularity of gaming and gamified techniques – ‘gamification’ – by violent extremists to radicalise, recruit and draw attention to their actions – such as the use of helmet cameras, combat gear and weapons in the style of first-person shooter games.

This edition of the RAN Practitioners Spotlight magazine therefore takes a look at the nature and scale of the radicalisation challenge on gaming and gaming-adjacent platforms, the use of gamified techniques, digital grooming tactics, and the opportunity to use games to tackle a range of social harms. The publication features a number of original articles by experts on the topic, papers produced by RAN Practitioners, and case studies of projects being delivered.