Over 22% of posts in otome game communities on Weibo are toxic.

Otome games are romance simulation games made mostly for women, but their online fan communities suffer from widespread toxicity that researchers have rarely studied. To explore this, scientists created a tool called OtomeSCAN. It gathers online messages and uses computer programs trained to spot abusive language, testing them against thousands of human-checked posts. The system identifies toxic comments and tracks who people attack, like other gamers or the people who make the games. The team found huge differences between websites. More than one in five posts on Weibo were toxic, while Reddit had far less hate. Toxic spikes also happen fast. When outside groups attacked players on Weibo, toxic posts jumped up sharply within 72 hours. Finally, the researchers spotted groups of users who seemed to work together to spread hate, mostly directing their coordinated attacks at game developers.

Why it matters

Otome games attract hundreds of millions of players, mostly women, yet their communities face unchecked toxicity. This work shows that on Weibo, over one in five posts is toxic, and coordinated attacks can triple toxicity in three days. Understanding these patterns helps platform moderators and developers protect players from targeted harassment.

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