When a Video Game Developer Gets Outed as Abusive, What Happens Next?

ReSpec wants to be part of the solution to the problems in the video game industry.

Founded in 2022 as an offshoot of a hotline for people experiencing harassment and abuse in the gaming industry, the nonprofit works with people who want to change.

ReSpec 's work pushes the conversation further, but also raises new questions about whether abusers can be reformed.

In the last few years , games industry powerhouses such as Riot , Activision Blizzard , and Ubisoft have been the subject of allegations of workplace harassment and abuse.

In the criminal system, advocates for restorative justice work with offenders and victims together in an attempt to reconcile.

The goal is to move forward, and sometimes reintegrate the perpetrator back into a community or workplace.

ReSpec is a survivor-centered hotline that offers support for abuse victims.

The nonprofit is not a formal program, nor a six-month plan where everybody gets a badge at the end.

Since starting, the nonprofit has held 25 group sessions and 57 one-on-one meetings.

It's not a method to connect abusers with their victims, force apologies, or otherwise offer some proof of "rehabilitation".