Uncovering the Effect of Toxicity on Player Engagement and its Propagation in Competitive Online Video Games

TL;DR

This study quantifies how exposure to toxic language in online games causally impacts player engagement and the spread of toxicity, revealing nuanced effects based on context and source.

Contribution

It introduces an instrumental variables approach to accurately estimate the causal effects of toxicity in online gaming environments, considering various contextual factors.

Findings

Toxic language exposure significantly increases player engagement.

Toxic language exposure raises the likelihood of players using toxic language.

The effects vary depending on whether toxicity comes from opponents or teammates.

Abstract

This article seeks to provide accurate estimates of the causal effect of exposure to toxic language on player engagement and the proliferation of toxic language. To this end, we analyze proprietary data from the first-person action video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III, published by Activision. To overcome causal identification problems, we implement an instrumental variables estimation strategy. Our findings confirm that exposure to toxic language significantly affects player engagement and the probability that players use similar language. Accordingly, video game publishers have a vested interest in addressing toxic language. Further, we demonstrate that this effect varies significantly depending on whether toxic language originates from opponents or teammates, whether it originates from teammates in the same party or a different party, and the match's outcome. This has meaningful implications regarding how resources for addressing toxicity should be allocated.