An American game developer has landed itself in hot water after reports of online bullying across its networks.
The game development companies Studio Wildcard and Snail Games have found themselves in a legal dispute after players made several reports to the companies about ongoing cyberbullying and threats made to players.
One of the cyberbullies, named only as "ABOALI," claimed that he had forty-five percent of shares within Studio Wildcard. By having this amount, he believed he was whitelisted by the company for any reports made against him. He claimed that "the company cannot issue any warnings or bans to my account as I have shares within the company, which makes it impossible for any action."
ABOALI, who claims to be Arabic, says he is planning on purchasing more shares within the company. He later mentioned that he is planning on buying out Studio Wildcard in the future.
Ark: Ascended has received negative reviews since launch due to the poor quality of the game and the bugs and glitches that players have been experiencing since day one of its release. Another player, who didn't want to be named, went on to say, "We have tried as a community to make bug reports and report glitches to the developers, but we were always met with our ticket case being automatically marked as 'Solved'."
Another player also mentioned that they had tried contacting Studio Wildcard to make reports of bullying on the server they play on, but said they were met with an automated message acknowledging they had received their report. However, nothing ever came of it, and the bully is still able to play on their server daily.
This has led to one player who was recently unfairly banned after the player ABOALI reported them because they would not hand over any dinosaurs, which are tamable creatures within the game. To seek legal action against Studio Wildcard for failing to keep the online community and its servers safe from threats and cyberbullying, which is becoming a more serious issue as the popularity of video games rises.
If you or someone you know has experianced bullying both online and offline and have no one to turn to for help you can call the National Bullying Helpline who offers support ensuring that all communcations are kept private and confidential you can contact them on the following number Helpline: 0300 323 0169 This helpline was founded in 2003 and was the very first UK helpline which provided assistance to individuals struggling with bullying issues, whatever the nature of the abuse. Today, the helpline is unique in that it is the only helpline of its kind, established by qualified employment law professionals, providing operational, timely, support to both adults and children – whether the bullying is in the home, the community, the playground, the workplace or on-line (ie: Cyberbullying). Manchester Today has contacted Studio Wildcard and Snail Games for comment.
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