Toxic behavior in video games is a phenomenon that in recent years have become a study of interest. This study explores the differences between a selection of 7 of the biggest competitive games on the market today, from 4 of the biggest genres in competitive gaming. This study also explores different factors and contexts that create and increase toxic behavior, investigating ways to counteract said behavior, both from a design perspective and player perspective. To answer this, we let participants from different gaming communities and genders (N=494) participate in an anonymous survey asking questions related to our subject of interest. This paper analyzes the answers from said survey and discusses the implications of these findings.This paper concludes that Moba games contain the most amount of toxic behavior and Battle Royale as the least toxic competitive game genre. This paper indicates that most players report toxic players. The most popular idea from the respondents concerning designs for decreasing toxic behavior was harder punishment against toxic players. This paper also indicates that factors related to performance have the biggest risk of causing toxic behavior and that high-ranking players are more prone to exhibiting toxic behaviors than low ranking players. This paper also confirms previous research on gender studies and toxic behavior.

Den här uppsatsen undersöker MMORPG-spelares uppfattningar och erfarenheter av toxiskt beteende. Huvudsyftet med uppsatsen är att ge bredare perspektiv om deskriptiva normativa uppfattningar kring toxiska beteenden bland MMORPG-spelare, hur detta påverkar spelarnas beteenden samt hur det påverkar spelarbasen. Studien utförs med en intervju-orienterad kvalitativ undersökningsmetod. Utgångspunkten för studien är de teoretiska ramverken om deskriptiva normativa uppfattningar och online-hämningslöshetseffekten som utgör grunden för rekrytering av deltagarna samt intervjufrågorna. Studiens resultat påvisar att det finns indikationer på att det finns ytterligare faktorer som påverkar normaliseringen av toxiska beteenden hos individer än de som är direkt relaterade till spelandet. Studien visar att spelare anser att belöningar är en bättre lösning än bestraffningar för att förbättra deras beteenden. Deltagarnas egna beteenden förändrades i relation till deras egna uppfattningar huruvida spelsamhällets norm är att vara toxisk eller inte. Denna innebär en direkt påverkan av det normaliserade beteendet i den sociala miljön. Slutligen konstaterades att deltagarnas motivation att fortsätta spela minskade när de kommit i kontakt med toxiska beteenden. / This essay examines MMORPG players’ normative perceptions of toxic behavior. The primary purpose of this essay is to provide additional perspectives on normative perceptions about toxic behaviors among MMORPG players, how this affects player behaviors, and how it affects the player base. The study utilizes a qualitative research method with a theoretically essentially latent approach. The starting point for the study is the theoretical frameworks theory of normative beliefs and online disinhibition effect, which is the basis for recruitment of the participants and the interview questions. The results demonstrate additional aspects which affect the normalization of toxic behaviour other than gaming-related factors. Further, players believe that rewards are a better solution than penalties for improving their behavior. The participants’ behavior changed concerning their perceptions of whether the game’s norm is to be toxic or not. The players’ behavior is thus directly affected by the normalized behavior in the social environment. Finally, players describe motivation to continue playing decreased when they came in contact with toxic behaviour.