Sega takes legal action against social media users

July 17, 2024

Highlights

Sega recently took legal action against a social media user who posted defamatory remarks about a company employee.
The studio warns toxic fans that it will not tolerate harassment of its employees.
Sega is not the only developer fighting back against abusive behavior on the Internet; Bungie also filed a lawsuit against such a user last year.

Video game developer Sega has taken legal action against an abusive social media user. The Japanese company has previously admitted that it has had to contend with a slew of toxic comments, and even admitted that one of its developers was recently subjected to a campaign of defamatory remarks. While Sega stated that it sincerely values the feedback from its huge player base, whether it comes in the form of praise or criticism, the studio has taken a stand against what it viewed as extreme harassment of an employee.

Although not representative of all gamers, a vocal minority of troublemakers have caused a fair amount of controversy. More than once, developers, publishers and even voice actors have received threatening emails from outraged gamers. This year alone, the developers of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 spoke about their experiences with online harassment, which led to a community manager condemning toxic users for sending death threats to the people behind the game.

A collage of Sega Genesis games: ToeJam & Earl (left), Sonic 2 (middle) and Ghouls 'n' Ghosts (right).

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Now, renowned video game developer Sega is going a step further and has officially taken one of these allegedly toxic fans to court. The company recently announced that it has taken legal action against an individual who allegedly posted defamatory and offensive comments about one of Sega’s employees online. Although Sega did not reveal the identity of the individual, the company stated that it has reached a settlement that requires the offender to pay damages to the employee in question. The unnamed individual is also required to delete the offensive messages and refrain from similar actions in the future.

Sega warns other toxic users against harassing developers

Sega reiterated that it takes threats against its employees seriously, whether physical or psychological, and warned potential perpetrators that it is prepared to take action if necessary under its customer harassment policy. The developer of the popular Sonic the Hedgehog The series also thanked fans for their continued support and promised that it would strive to exceed expectations in future projects.

Although it doesn’t happen too often, Sega isn’t the only video game developer fighting back against toxicity and harassment. In recent years, studios and fans alike have fought back against openly hostile and threatening messages towards developers, voice actors, and other industry figures. Last year Fate 2 Developer Bungie even filed a lawsuit against one of these toxic users, which ultimately ended with the perpetrator having to pay $500,000 in damages to the injured studio employee.