Gaming’s Misogyny Side Quest Is Long Overdue for Completion

Alanah, Alyssa, and the Fragile Men Who Still Fear Women in Games

I don’t know what Alanah Pearce does for work. I don’t know anything about Alanah Pearce, and I don’t care to—because I’m not a parasocial weirdo.

I could address the allegations made against her. I could seek out evidence to support the response video I didn’t watch. I could do all the things that she—a woman I do not know—didn’t ask me to do. But this piece isn’t about Alanah. Nor is it about the incels who started this mess.

I don’t know much about Alyssa Mercante either, beyond the fact that she has a voice in games media who, alongside Alanah, became a target of fragile incel outrage because some fragile men didn’t like something she had a part in writing.

But despite never hearing of this whiny shit-streak Smash JT before writing this piece, I somehow feel like I know him very well. Because I grew up in the GamerGate era.

A discount outrage merchant with a persecution kink and a podcast mic, allergic to women with opinions.

The kind of guy who thinks harassment is journalism and bitterness is branding. Who breaks into cold sweats at the mere suggestion that women might have insight into the games he once felt ownership over.

He, though, is also not the story. He’s the embarrassing punchline on the way to the real issue—the festering stink of misogyny that still clings to games culture like his unwashed underwear.

So let’s leave him and the legion of irrelevant, pit-stained, clout-chasing skid marks that followed suit. And let’s talk about something that actually matters.

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Women have always been part of gaming. Always. From Roberta Williams, co-founder of Sierra On-Line and creator of King’s Quest, to Rieko Kodama, a pioneering force behind Phantasy Star and Skies of Arcadia, who passed away only two years ago (R.I.P.). From Brenda Romero (Wizardry, Jagged Alliance, Ghost Recon) to modern devs like the jubilant and charming Ikumi Nakamura, women have shaped the games we love—often while being actively erased or ignored.

The problem isn’t that women are “taking over” gaming and making it “woke and gay”.

The problem is that some fragile, egotistical men still believe gaming belongs to them, and women belong, blah blah blah. Women belong wherever they want—get over it.

That toxic root, the one GamerGate supercharged, is still there. It’s in the harassment campaigns. The YouTube grifts. The forums where angry white males still unironically say “go woke, go broke,” while Baldur’s Gate 3 wins Game of the Year. It’s in the backlash Alyssa Mercante gets for doing her job as a critic. It’s in the fixation with Alanah Pearce’s body instead of her work.

It’s not about facts. It’s about fear.

Fear that a woman might be better at a thing you thought made you special. Fear that the world is moving on without you—and it is.

But here’s the truth: games have never been more interesting, more inclusive, more alive.

Not in spite of diversity, but because of it.

Games today are more positively manly, powerfully feminine, excellently Blacker, shamelessly gayer, and gloriously weird. And that's good. It's art evolving. It's culture breathing. It's the kind of messy, experimental energy that gave us Yakuza 0, Undertale, Celeste, Hades, and Spider-Man 2 with Miles Morales’ cocoa-butter-slick fade. It’s everything that makes games not just good, but human.

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So to all the insecure men terrified of women in their space:

Touch grass. Take a shower. Play something made after 2007.

To the rest of us? Stop giving these mid-level man-babies air. Don’t debate them. Don’t platform them. Don’t try to reason with them like they have something worth hearing. Let them rot where they belong—in Asmongold’s chat, right next to the dead rat and cockroach on his shoulder.

Because while they cry about "wokeness," women keep doing the work. Writing. Creating. Building the future of games.

And we owe them our support.

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So here’s to the women and femmes who make gaming better. Here’s to the queer devs, the Black artists, the critics who hold the line, and everyone else helping evolve this chaotic, beautiful medium.

To the straight white dudes—don’t worry, we still have Doom: The Dark Ages.

To the gooners—I guess Stellar Blade is still a thing.

To the rest of us? We’ve got games. So many damn good games.

Now pick up a controller. Mind your business. And for the love of God—lock the incels in the basement. Happy gaming.

Sincerely,
Your Dawg

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Key sources & Women to celebrate:

Roberta Williams – King’s Quest, Sierra On-Line

• Summary: Co-founder of Sierra On-Line, a pioneer in graphical adventure games. Her work helped establish narrative-driven games as a major genre.

• Source: Roberta Williams – Wikipedia

Rieko Kodama – Phantasy Star, Skies of Arcadia

• Summary: One of the first prominent women in Japanese game development. Known for art direction and producing RPGs at SEGA. Passed away in 2022.

• Source: Rieko Kodama – Wikipedia

• News of her passing: IGN – Rieko Kodama Passes Away

Brenda Romero – Wizardry, Jagged Alliance, Ghost Recon

• Summary: Veteran designer and writer with deep roots in RPG history. A vocal advocate for diversity in games and the cultural significance of the medium.

• Source: Brenda Romero – Wikipedia

Ikumi Nakamura – Ghostwire: Tokyo, E3 2019 Presentation

• Summary: Gained fame after her viral E3 presentation; formerly an artist and creative director at Tango Gameworks. Now leads her own independent studio.

• Source: Ikumi Nakamura – Wikipedia

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