About

Constance Steinkuehler is a faculty member affiliated with the Connected Learning Lab, where she researches the cognitive and social aspects of multiplayer online videogames and esports. Her current projects include studies of teenage boys and gameplay, parenting and videogames, and the impacts of the NASEF high school esports league. She formerly served as a Senior Policy Analyst under the Obama administration in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, advising on games and digital media, and founded the Higher Education Video Games Alliance (HEVGA), a national network of game-related programs.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Sociology
• Political Science
• Psychology
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social psychology
• Mathematics education
• Computer Security
• Pedagogy
• Public relations
• Law
• History
• Geography
• Engineering
• Communication
• Physics
• Criminology
• Multimedia

Selected publications

• Editorial: Extremism in games

  Frontiers in Psychology · 2026-01-06

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The goal of this Research Topic was to bring together the latest research examining the intersection of games and extremism. As gaming platforms continue to grow, the urgency of understanding how extremist actors exploit these spaces has intensified. This collection represents one of the first curated assemblies of empirical research specifically focused on extremism in gaming contexts, where alongside deepening existing knowledge, it provides crucial evidence to inform counter-terrorism efforts, platform governance, and prevention strategies.The articles in this special issue align across four broad themes: prevalence and nature of extremist content in gaming spaces, platform governance and moderation challenges, building resilience among gaming communities, and youth vulnerability. Each of these themes is discussed below.Three articles in this collection provide systematic assessments of extremist content within gaming environments, addressing a critical gap in our empirical knowledge. Kowert et al. conducted a large-scale survey of game players to assess their experiences with extremist sentiment and found that more than half of all respondents reported being either a direct target of or witness to extremist rhetoric within gaming spaces. Extremist content was found to manifest primarily through text-based communication and occurred most frequently in-game, though players also encountered extremism through iconography, images, and voice chat. The findings document exposure to multiple forms of extremism including white supremacy, anti-government sentiment, antisemitism, Islamophobia, misogyny, and LGBTQIA+ agitation.Miller-Idriss takes a deep dive into the role of misogyny in gaming spaces and online gaming communities "incubate, channel, and champion" sexist and misogynist attitudes which has contributed to a mainstreaming of male supremacist ideology and violence. She presents case examples to demonstrate how the mainstreaming of misogyny in these spaces, which are frequented by boys in men, normalizes and mobilizes extremist motivated violence. Schlegel et al. expanded our understanding by examining a previously understudied area -mod forums. Through an exploratory analysis of 500 posts on Mod DB, one of the most popular modding platforms, the researchers identified hateful and extremist content across multiple ideological strands including right-wing extremism, antisemitism, and Islamism. This work highlights that extremist exploitation of gaming spaces extends beyond mainstream platforms into creative gaming communities, where hateful mods can potentially reach tens of thousands of users.Understanding how platforms respond to extremist content is crucial for developing effective mitigation strategies. Allchorn and Orofino conducted semi-structured interviews with leading practitioners, academics, and content moderation experts to explore how communities are responding to extremist activity on gaming-adjacent platforms such as Discord, Twitch, and Steam. The research reveals that while third-party communities have adopted increasingly sophisticated tactics, their efforts are undermined by the networked and adaptive nature of extremism and by insufficient enforcement mechanisms at the platform level. A particularly concerning finding is the prevalence of "awful but lawful" content, extremist-adjacent material that, while harmful, does not clearly violate platform terms of service. The study calls for greater transparency in content moderation and more robust efforts to counter toxic gaming cultures that create fertile ground for extremist exploitation.Given the challenges of completely eradicating harmful content from vast online gaming communities, building individual and community resilience against extremist messaging is essential. Lamphere-Englund et al. developed and tested a novel framework called Building Resilience Against Violent Extremism Digitally (BRAVED), adapting an offline-focused resilience model for digital gaming environments. Drawing on survey data from more than 2000 gamers across seven countries (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Indonesia, the UK, and the US), the research identified key factors that contribute to resilience against violent extremism in gaming contexts. Notably, the study employed a gender-based lens, recognizing that male and female gamers may face different vulnerability factors and pathways to extremist content. This work provides actionable insights for developing targeted prevention programs within gaming communities.The vulnerability of young people to extremist content in gaming spaces deserves particular attention, given that gaming is especially popular among children and adolescents. Two papers in this collection explored this topic.Wells et al conducted a survey among adolescent and young-adult players (13-25 year old) and found that most (85%) reported encountering hate speech online and had witnessed hate-based harassment (82%). Gender-based (69.9%) and ethnicity-based (62.1%) harassment were the most commonly witnessed forms. A key takeaway from this work is that exposure to this kind of material matters. Greater exposure to hate speech significantly increased both productive responses (e.g., supporting victims) and harmful ones (e.g., toxicity in return), and was associated with higher odds of hate-based harassment perpetration. Players from marginalized groups were disproportionately targeted and more likely to withdraw from play, leaving less-affected players behind, conditions that may facilitate the gradual normalization of hate in online gaming spaces.Hutchinson et al. conducted interviews with experts from government, academic, and education-based organizations across multiple regions to assess professional perspectives on childhood and adolescent exposure to extremist materials in online gaming environments. The research examines how gaming technologies facilitate youth exposure to both extremist content and extremist recruiters, highlighting developmental considerations that make younger users particularly susceptible. The findings underscore the need for age-appropriate educational interventions and stronger protections for minor users on gaming platforms.The work compiled in this collection confirms that extremist rhetoric and behavior have become commonplace in gaming spaces. That said, it is crucial to emphasize that these findings do not suggest that gaming causes radicalization or that games themselves are inherently problematic. Rather, extremist actors are exploiting the massive reach, immersive nature, and social infrastructure of gaming platforms to undertake activities and spread their ideologies.Gaming represents one of the most significant cultural and social phenomena of our time. For the vast majority of users, gaming provides entertainment, social connection, community, and even mental health benefits. The presence of extremist actors in these spaces should not lead to moral panic or stigmatization of gaming communities. Instead, the research in this collection points toward more nuanced and evidence-based approaches.Several key themes emerge across these articles that warrant continued attention. First, the ubiquity of extremist content exposure suggests that moderation strategies focused solely on the most egregious violations are insufficient. The normalization of hateful rhetoric, even when it falls short of explicit extremist messaging, may be laying groundwork for more serious radicalization pathways. Second, gaming-adjacent platforms such as Discord and Twitch, are also being used as infrastructure for extremist community building. Third, technical solutions alone will not solve this challenge. Building community resilience, fostering positive gaming cultures, and educating users (particularly young people) about extremist tactics are equally important components of comprehensive prevention strategies.Looking ahead, there are several research priorities worth of attention. We need more cross-cultural research that examines how gaming and extremism intersect differently across global contexts, particularly in regions beyond North America and Europe. We need closer collaboration between researchers, technology companies, gaming studios, and prevention practitioners to develop evidence-based interventions that can be implemented at scale. We also need continued empirical investigation of emerging trends, including the use of artificial intelligence in content moderation, the role of influencers and streamers in either amplifying or countering extremist narratives, and the exploitation of virtual and augmented reality gaming environments.Taken together, this collection represents an important step toward building a rigorous empirical foundation for understanding extremism in gaming contexts. By bringing together diverse methodological approaches, from large-scale surveys to in-depth interviews to platform analyses, the complexity of the challenge and the necessity of multi-faceted responses is evident. We hope that the evidence presented here will inform more effective policies, platform governance strategies, and prevention programs, while also inspiring continued research in this growing area of concern.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Proceedings of the 2019 Esports Research Conference

  KiltHub Repository · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Esports appeal to millions worldwide and have observable social, political, and economic impacts. This influence presents unique opportunities for academia and industry to examine a variety of topics. Research on esports continues to grow in both volume and complexity while the industry continues to refine itself as both a profession and a cultural force. Following the success of an esports summit in 2016, the 2018 Esports Research Conference (ESC 2018) was the first conference of its kind to focus on esports research and practice inclusive of both academics and industry professionals. Created to provide a space for esports researchers and industry leaders to come together to present research, discuss topics relevant to future work, celebrate collaboration in the growing field, and build bridges between the many communities that make up the field of esports. <br>ESC is the premier academic research conference in the field of esports. Building on our success last year, ESC 2019 aims to foster substantive discussion about competitive video game play, bringing together leading thinkers across both academia and industry. Each year, we foster in-depth conversation and networking across diverse disciplines including informatics, computer science, cognitive science, game studies, sociology, sports science, communication arts, and business.Conference highlights include keynotes by leaders in both academia and industry, interactive workshops on research and program design, individual and symposia presentations, big debates about critical aspects of esports, a massively multiplayer evening poster session over hors d’oeuvres and an open bar, fireside chats that enable cozy conversations among VIP speakers and attendees, and the finest fiercest friendly competition among collegiate esports teams in our evening esports invitational event.<br>ESC aims to bring the communities and people of this growing phenomenon together to foster debate and collaboration through esports research.

  PublisherDOI

• Proceedings of the 2019 Esports Research Conference

  Figshare · 2026-01-01

  bookOpen accessSenior author

  Esports appeal to millions worldwide and have observable social, political, and economic impacts. This influence presents unique opportunities for academia and industry to examine a variety of topics. Research on esports continues to grow in both volume and complexity while the industry continues to refine itself as both a profession and a cultural force. Following the success of an esports summit in 2016, the 2018 Esports Research Conference (ESC 2018) was the first conference of its kind to focus on esports research and practice inclusive of both academics and industry professionals. Created to provide a space for esports researchers and industry leaders to come together to present research, discuss topics relevant to future work, celebrate collaboration in the growing field, and build bridges between the many communities that make up the field of esports. <br>ESC is the premier academic research conference in the field of esports. Building on our success last year, ESC 2019 aims to foster substantive discussion about competitive video game play, bringing together leading thinkers across both academia and industry. Each year, we foster in-depth conversation and networking across diverse disciplines including informatics, computer science, cognitive science, game studies, sociology, sports science, communication arts, and business.Conference highlights include keynotes by leaders in both academia and industry, interactive workshops on research and program design, individual and symposia presentations, big debates about critical aspects of esports, a massively multiplayer evening poster session over hors d’oeuvres and an open bar, fireside chats that enable cozy conversations among VIP speakers and attendees, and the finest fiercest friendly competition among collegiate esports teams in our evening esports invitational event.<br>ESC aims to bring the communities and people of this growing phenomenon together to foster debate and collaboration through esports research.

  OA PDFDOI

• The Spread and Impact of Game Innovations: A Systematic Review of Academic and Applied Domains

  Games Research and Practice · 2025-12-15

  article1st authorCorresponding

  The use of digital game technologies beyond entertainment has evolved from a niche practice to a well-established area of applied innovation [Sawyer and Rejeski 2002 ; Future Market Insights 2023 ]. Understanding these impacts is important for professionals in entertainment technology—researchers, teachers, students, developers, and policy makers—who, perhaps unknowingly, contribute to activities in other sectors. This systematic review investigates the use and impact of game technologies beyond entertainment to assess how the field contributes to other sectors through both its original innovations and those it has catalyzed and advanced. Across the publications analyzed, educational and applied games account for most documented cases, reflecting their prominence within academic discourse. We review academic research articles, book chapters, news coverage, and other published accounts to develop a broad picture of how game innovations spread—from first-order impacts, in which commercial entertainment games are leveraged toward non-entertainment ends in areas such as education, science visualization, and health; to second-order contributions, in which technologies and design innovations (e.g., game engines, leaderboards, and occlusion-culling techniques) created for games are applied in non-game contexts; to tertiary contributions, where the games industry has catalyzed advances such as temporal anti-aliasing, scalable server architectures, and joystick design now used widely elsewhere. The review characterizes how video-game design elements and technologies have enhanced diverse fields, the relative degree of contribution across domains, and emergent themes. While the distribution of work mirrors the weighting of academic research toward educational and applied contexts, it also reveals broader technological and social impacts extending beyond those traditions. By focusing on published reports, this review moves beyond claims about potential to document the demonstrated, cross-sector contributions of game technologies outside entertainment.

  PublisherDOI

• Games in Carceral Settings

  Lecture notes in computer science · 2025-10-31

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Hate speech and hate-based harassment in online games

  Frontiers in Psychology · 2025-02-19 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  The proliferation of hate speech and hate-based harassment has become a worryingly common trend in online gaming spaces, with researchers fearing that it could lead to the normalization of hateful behaviors on such platforms. However, little research has been done assessing the frequency of such events and how players respond to their occurrence. In this study, we conduct a large-scale survey ( n = 602) asking players to reflect on their experiences and responses to hateful conduct in online games. We examine their perspectives when faced with hate speech and harassment from the role of a bystander, a victim, or the perpetrator. We then compare these responses with various demographic factors and personality traits to determine which variables might predict such conduct to occur and persist over time. Our findings suggest that hate speech and harassment are more accepted by those who are not directly targeted, potentially leaving those players as the remaining few to continue inhabiting and shaping online gaming spaces over time.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Detoxing Online Games

  2024-10-10

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Toxicity and hate are on the rise both offline in political rhetoric and civic discourse and online on social platforms and in digital playgrounds that, by design, convert our connections from relationships to transactions. In the case of online games, player safety is now a pressing academic and industry concern, with 76% of adults and 37% of minors experiencing toxicity, hate and harassment, including extremist and white supremacy rhetoric [1]. Our research lab has been investigating these issues over the last three years, focusing particularly on the experiences of adolescents (ages 13-25) and possible solutions to our shared problem of community. Growing out of research on school-affiliated teen esports programs (NASEF) and their academic and social-emotional impacts on youth, which revealed some of the dynamics of tilt and toxicity and the transformative role of coaches and peer mentors, this research adopted a tripartite model assuming that all online players, at some time or another, have been not only bystanders and victims to harmful behaviors but also, even if rarely admitted, perpetrators as well.

  PublisherDOI

• Introduction to Videogames and the Extremist Ecosystem

  2024-01-04 · 3 citations

  book-chapterOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This chapter provides a broad overview of videogames and their player communities with an eye toward those aspects that bear on the patterns of extremist activity we see today. It introduces videogames, their definition and defining elements, the issue of violence, key industry stakeholders in their development, and discusses the centrality of rules and systems to games, on the one hand, and player action, reaction, and interpretation, on the other. It also examines the nature of game communities, including what we know about player demographics, their varying motivations for play, the structural features that game communities have in common, and how extremists exploit them. The chapter then considers games as social platforms, including both online games and online game-adjacent platforms, and compares and contrasts them to other traditional social platforms.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Right-Wing Extremism in Mainstream Games: A Review of the Literature

  Games and Culture · 2023 · 30 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Political Science
  • Sociology

  Hate speech, harassment, and an increasing prevalence of right-wing extremism in online game spaces are of growing concern in the United States. Understanding trends in how and to what extent extremist groups utilize online gaming spaces is vital in taking action to protect players. To synthesize the current state of extant research and suggest future directions, we conduct a systematic review of the literature on right-wing extremism in videogames. We detail our search protocol, selection criteria, and analysis of the collected work, and then summarize the findings. Important themes include how and why extremists’ targeting of online game communities began, the role of Gamergate in this process, and the industry and market context in which such activities emerged. We describe the current nature of the problem, with extremist language and ideology providing a kind of on-ramp for radicalizing disenfranchised gamers. We conclude with a summary of responses from industry and legislators.

  PublisherDOI

• Enriched Esports: The Design and Four-Year Examination of a School-Affiliated Competitive Videogame Program for Youth

  Journal of Interactive Learning Research · 2023-01-01 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This paper describes the design and investigation of a high-school-affiliated esports program based on an enrichment learning model. In it, the authors detail the connections between esports and learning, self-reported impacts of the program and demographic differences among them, students’ attitudes toward program features, and equity in results across demographic groups. Several methods were used to document and evaluate the program including observational fieldwork, an online retrospective posttest survey, and a modified instrument given in an alternative one-sample pretest-posttest design. Authors find compelling evidence that an enrichment approach to youth esports yields positive outcomes in communication, social-emotional skills, and school affiliation, and suggestive indications that it may have temporarily staved off an overall downward trend in key variables including STEM interest, self-regulation, attendance, and GPA, during the COVID-19 global pandemic.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Kurt Squire

  26 shared

• Soren Johnson

  12 shared

• Sasha A. Barab

  9 shared

• Crystle Martin

  New York University Press

  9 shared

• Elizabeth M. King

  9 shared

• James Paul Gee

  Arizona State University

  8 shared

• Esra Alagöz

  7 shared

• Sharon J. Derry

  7 shared

Education

• Ph.D. Literacy Studies, Curriculum & Instruction

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  2005

• M.S. Cognitive Science Applied to Education, Educational Psychology

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  2000

• BA Mathematics, BA English, BA Religious Studies

  University of Missouri–Columbia

  1993