By Recent data presented by the Atlas VPN team, 38% of gamers have been hacked at least once in the past while playing computer games.
However, that is not the only privacy concern the gamers reported as part of the online abuse. A total of 34% of gamers also had their personal information shared on an online game without their consent.
Chief Operative Officer of Atlas VPN, Rachel Welch, who shares her thoughts on online game cyberthreats said: “While online games are becoming extremely popular, the growing gamer base is a lucrative target for cybercriminals. Limiting information players provide to online game creators, staying away from unofficial third party game sellers or download platforms, avoiding clicking on suspicious links, and using two-factor authentication, are just some of the precautions online gamers should take to protect themselves from increasing cyberthreats.“
A significant amount of gamers also experience psychological attacks while playing computer games. The number one online abuse concern reported by 64% of gamers was trolling. A total of 57% of gamers also said they were bullied and subjected to hate speech, 47% of gamers received threats in the past, while 40% experienced unwanted sexual contact.
Many gamers are intimidated by multiplayer games and would rather stick to themselves than have to endure other online players. However, some would reconsider playing multiplayer games if game developers fixed specific problems.
The majority of gamers agree that disruptive behavior is the number one problem of multiplayer games. A total of 33% of male and female respondents believe eliminating toxicity would make them reconsider joining multiplayer games.
Some aspects of multiplayer games are more important to one gender than the other. For example, females felt strongly about game violence, with 30% of female gamers and only 10% of male gamers saying limiting violence in games would change their minds about playing multiplayer games.
Males, however, are more concerned about a number of microtransactions. Over one-fifth of males (21%) believe limiting microtransactions in the game would change their minds, while the same is true for only 8% of females.
