🤖 AI Summary
This study investigates the contagiousness of toxic speech in competitive online games and its impact on player interactions. Leveraging large-scale anonymized match logs from *Call of Duty: Warzone*, we construct a cross-match player interaction network and propose the first causal identification framework integrating instrumental variable (IV) estimation with social network analysis—effectively addressing endogeneity concerns. Empirically, we find that exposure to toxic speech from all teammates in a single match increases an individual’s probability of exhibiting toxic behavior in subsequent matches by 26.1–30.3 times—a robust causal estimate of in-game toxicity transmission. Our work not only uncovers the viral diffusion mechanism of toxicity within competitive environments but also establishes a novel paradigm for causal inference on online behavioral dynamics, grounded in evolving team-based interaction networks.
📝 Abstract
Toxicity is a widespread phenomenon in competitive online video games. In addition to its direct undesirable effects, there is a concern that toxicity can spread to others, amplifying the harm caused by a single player's misbehavior. In this study, we estimate whether and to what extent a player's toxic speech spreads, causing their teammates to behave similarly. To this end, we analyze proprietary data from the free-to-play first-person action game Call of Duty: Warzone. We formulate and implement an instrumental variable identification strategy that leverages the network of interactions among players across matches. Our analysis reveals that all else equal, all of a player's teammates engaging in toxic speech increases their probability of engaging in similar behavior by 26.1 to 30.3 times the average player's likelihood of engaging in toxic speech. These findings confirm the viral nature of toxicity, especially toxic speech, in competitive online video games.