Beyond the Clan: Identity Formation, Influence, and Extremist Milieux in Online Gaming-Adjacent Spaces – GNET

Over the previous twenty years, gaming environments have turn into more and more social and massified. Multiplayer video games enable gamers to cooperate, compete, and talk in actual time, whereas adjoining platforms (akin to Discord or Twitch) lengthen interplay past gameplay itself. Scholars learning gaming cultures have lengthy emphasised the significance of those areas for group constructing and identification development (see, for instance Gray, 2018).

However, analysis has additionally examined how extremist actors exploit these similar environments for malign and dangerous pursuits. Studies on the intersection of gaming and extremism spotlight a number of patterns: using gaming aesthetics in propaganda (Kingdon, 2024), recruitment inside gaming communities (Newhouse & Kowert, 2024), the event of extremist modifications or video games (Robinson and Whittaker, 2021), and the circulation of ideological memes tied to gaming tradition.

Recent analysis performed by the authors by 13 qualitative interviews with P/CVE practitioners, moderators, and researchers engaged on gaming platforms offers additional perception into how these dynamics function in apply (see Allchorn & Orofino, 2025). As outlined on this Insight, the findings point out that gaming ecosystems can operate as “gateway social spaces” the place people encounter ideological narratives and steadily kind identities aligned with broader extremist milieus. These observations had been offered at a latest symposium for the Horizon-funded GEMS challenge (Gaming Ecosystem as a Multilayered Security Threat), entitled “Beyond the Clan: Identity Formation, Influence, and Extremist Milieux in Online Gaming‑Adjacent Spaces”.

Theme 1: Collective Identity Formation Through Team‑Based Gameplay

Historically, extremist organisations have relied on collective actions to domesticate group cohesion and reinforce ideological identification. These actions have included physical training exercises in addition to social gatherings supposed to strengthen interpersonal relationships throughout the motion. As one interviewee famous, “we’ve seen this historically… on the far right and with Islamist groups,” the place, for instance, Islamist networks organised themselves into cells that participated in actions like “paintballing and survivalist exercises… used for team bonding and group bonding and survival skills” (Interviewee 1). Such actions weren’t incidental, however central to cultivating belief, self-discipline, and a way of belonging throughout the group.

Today, these dynamics are more and more replicated in digital gaming areas. As the interviewee defined, “technology has evolved and that same [real life] group bonding is now taking place online,” notably in warfare-based video games like Call of Duty or Fortnite, which “transfer a digital version of those survivalist and team building skills,” requiring gamers to “work as a team together to kill a common enemy” (Interviewee 2). Through shared, cooperative gameplay, these environments foster social connections and collective identification in ways in which mirror conventional group-bonding contexts akin to sports activities groups or social golf equipment.

Digital infrastructure now permits comparable dynamics to happen on-line, notably in aggressive multiplayer video games akin to first‑individual shooters and extra collaborative on-line sandboxes (like Roblox and Minecraft). The construction of those video games – collective technique, shared targets, and communication – can reinforce group cohesion whereas normalising adversarial or militaristic narratives, and has led to mods and red-teaming by extremist actors.

These environments typically embody communication techniques akin to voice chat or non-public staff channels, which permit gamers to coordinate methods and work together socially past gameplay. Repeated interplay fosters belief and familiarity amongst gamers, steadily creating cohesive on-line communities.

“You’ve got the team building in the game, and then you’ve got the conversations as well. Obviously, you can set up a private game [or channel] and just have private conversations yourself” (Interviewee 4).

While these dynamics usually are not inherently problematic, they could additionally create alternatives for ideological affect. Groups that kind round shared gameplay experiences might subsequently develop broader discussions about politics, tradition, or identification. Within these conversations, extremist narratives can typically be launched steadily and normalised throughout the group.

Theme 2: Youth Identity Development and Susceptibility to Influence

Research on youth radicalisation persistently highlights the position of social belonging in processes of ideological mobilisation (Petrosino & Morgan, 2025). Individuals looking for identification might gravitate towards communities that supply compelling narratives of goal, injustice, or heroism. Gaming environments intersect with these developmental processes by creating areas the place social interplay is fixed, and group identities can kind rapidly by shared play and collaboration.

Interviewees concerned in platform moderation and counter-extremism work emphasised that these looking for to form ideological attitudes are inclined to give attention to youthful audiences, notably inside gaming areas the place they’re extremely energetic. As one interviewee defined, reasonably than trying to affect older people in offline social settings, actors can be extra more likely to goal youngsters, who’re seen as “more impressionable and idealistic,” and due to this fact extra vulnerable to being engaged and influenced by ideological messaging (Interviewee 2). 

At the identical time, it is very important stress that gaming itself doesn’t trigger radicalisation. Rather, gaming platforms symbolize considered one of many social environments by which broader processes of identification improvement unfold. The similar mechanisms that foster friendship, cooperation, and group amongst gamers can be exploited by actors trying to introduce ideological narratives.

Theme 3: Idolisation and Influencer‑Driven Identity Formation

A key dynamic shaping identification inside gaming ecosystems is the affect of on-line personalities, together with streamers and content material creators who typically act as position fashions for youthful audiences. Interviewees famous that adolescents might internalise political or ideological messages when these are conveyed by figures they admire, making such content material extra persuasive and “more impactful and difficult to regulate,” notably given the bounds of controlling reside or user-generated content material (Interviewee 7). This displays an “idol–imitator” dynamic, the place audiences undertake the attitudes and behaviours of influential figures, who in some circumstances – akin to attackers – can turn into symbolic icons whose concepts unfold throughout platforms by memes, manifestos, and on-line discourse (Interviewee 3).

At the identical time, affect just isn’t restricted to high-profile figures. Interviewees emphasised that extra delicate, interpersonal interactions inside gaming areas can even form beliefs, notably amongst people experiencing isolation or marginalisation. In these contexts, relationships framed as friendship or mentorship might steadily introduce ideological narratives, typically with out being perceived as dangerous by these concerned.

These layered dynamics current challenges for moderation. As one interviewee defined, approaches more and more give attention to behavioural indicators – akin to whether or not “this conversation [is] focused on someone’s social support network” or whether or not there are “indications this user doesn’t have other friends they’re playing with” (Interviewee 13) – reasonably than solely on express content material. This shift displays the necessity to determine vulnerability and grooming patterns, together with intense one-to-one interactions or efforts to construct dependency.

Overall, affect in gaming ecosystems operates throughout a number of ranges, from seen influencers shaping group norms to extra hidden interpersonal dynamics. For platforms, this complicates moderation efforts, as conventional instruments are sometimes much less efficient in detecting delicate ideological messaging embedded inside humour, gaming tradition, or coded types of communication.

Theme 4: Decentralised Ideological Communities and Hybrid Identities

An extra shift shaping contemporary extremism is the motion away from hierarchical organisations towards decentralised ideological milieus the place an ‘influencer plus follower’ mannequin of organisation prevails. Historically, extremist teams (akin to Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Boko Haram) typically relied on formal membership constructions, management hierarchies, and identifiable organisations.

Digital environments have remodeled this panorama. Online ideological ecosystems more and more operate as free networks of communities related by shared narratives, symbols, and cultural references reasonably than formal organisational membership.

Participants described this shift because the emergence of fluid “milieux” reasonably than clearly outlined, structured organisations. As one interviewee defined, it’s now attainable to “coagulate a group online around social identity cohesion markers,” but, “comparatively to 20 years ago,” such formations wouldn’t be thought of “an organisation in the same way” (Interviewee 5). Individuals might due to this fact transfer throughout a number of on-line areas concurrently, drawing on and mixing totally different ideological components with out formal membership, reflecting a extra diffuse and networked type of collective identification.

Decentralised anti-government actions present how shared identities can kind on-line with out formal constructions. As one interviewee famous, participation is usually “more of a pick and mix,” reflecting “the era of influencers,” the place identification is formed much less by group membership and extra by “influencer–followers relationships” (Interviewee 10). In this context, memes and symbols act as markers of belonging, complicating efforts to determine and monitor these diffuse networks.

Theme 5: Cross‑Platform Identity Performance

Another defining characteristic of latest on-line extremism is cross-platform identification efficiency, the place customers keep a number of personas and regulate their behaviour in response to moderation ranges and viewers expectations. As one interviewee famous, people might current themselves otherwise throughout areas, with some explicitly acknowledging that “you should see me on this platform –  I’m way more extremist there because we don’t get moderated there” (Interviewee 6). This displays a broader sample by which public platforms are used for outreach and visibility, whereas much less regulated or non-public areas facilitate extra express ideological expression and interplay. Several excessive‑profile circumstances illustrate this dynamic. Investigations into the Buffalo grocery store assault in 2022 discovered that the perpetrator had used non-public Discord communities to share ideological materials and talk about plans previous to the assault. Discord took action promptly following the assault to mitigate additional hurt and the unfold of associated content material. Similarly, researchers analysing the Christchurch assault recognized how the perpetrator posted messages on 4Chan earlier than livestreaming the assault.

These examples spotlight how extremist actors strategically navigate digital ecosystems, exploiting variations in platform governance and moderation techniques.

Recommendations: Implications for Technology Companies

The dynamics described within the analysis above spotlight a number of challenges for know-how firms looking for to counter extremist exploitation of gaming ecosystems. Gaming platforms are basically social environments, and lots of the options that allow group formation—voice chat, livestreaming, non-public teams—are additionally the options that may be exploited by extremist actors.

Addressing these challenges requires progressive approaches that reach past conventional content material moderation:

• First, platforms ought to put money into specialised moderation groups with experience in gaming cultures and coded on-line language. Extremist narratives in gaming environments typically seem by humour, memes, or references that could be troublesome for automated moderation techniques to detect.
• Second, cross‑platform collaboration is important. Extremist actors continuously transfer between platforms, utilizing mainstream networks for outreach and smaller communities for ideological discussions. Information sharing between firms may assist determine patterns of coordinated exercise.
• Third, platforms ought to increase transparency and partnerships with tutorial researchers learning extremism and digital cultures. Collaborative analysis initiatives can enhance understanding of rising traits and allow earlier identification of dangerous networks.

Conclusion

Gaming environments have turn into necessary social ecosystems the place thousands and thousands of customers kind friendships, communities, and identities by shared experiences. However, the identical social dynamics that allow group formation can even create alternatives for extremist actors looking for to affect or recruit people on-line. Our analysis inspecting gaming‑adjoining platforms highlights how identification formation processes—collective gameplay experiences, youth identification improvement, influencer cultures, decentralised ideological networks, and cross‑platform identification efficiency—can intersect with broader extremist ecosystems.

Understanding these dynamics is important for growing efficient counter‑extremism methods. Rather than treating gaming platforms solely as safety dangers, policymakers and know-how firms ought to recognise them as complicated social ecosystems the place identification formation, group constructing, and ideological affect work together – each for good and for unwell.

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Dr William Allchorn is a Senior Research Fellow at International Policing and Public Policing Research Institute (IPPPRI), Anglia Ruskin University, and an skilled on radical-right extremist social actions within the UK, Europe, and past. He has just lately suggested the UK, US and Australian governments on their approaches to countering the intense right-wing, and has undertaken among the first metrical testing of violent far-right extremist counter-narratives within the UK, US and Australia with governments (e.g. EU Internet Forum), civil society organisations (e.g. Counter-Extremism Project), and tech firms (e.g. Meta) internationally. 

Dr Elisa Orofino is a Senior Research Fellow and Academic Lead for the Extremism and Counter-Terrorism Sub-Theme at International Policing and Public Policing Research Institute (IPPPRI), Anglia Ruskin University, and an skilled on Islamist extremist social actions within the UK, Europe, and past.

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