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[Lime]

Polygon has a long feature based on a poll they conducted. In the whole feature you can read the responses from various game companies, as well as the long list of companies who didn't respond at all or refused to*. Of those who responded, most are broad, vague, and general, which seem more like PR than offering specific policies to help employees survive and overcome the abuse from the harassment campaigns and bigots in video game culture.

The reluctance to address online harassment of employees:

We also did not receive a reply from the Entertainment Software Association, a trade body which represents the interests of games companies and hosts the annual E3 event.

This reluctance to talk could be a manifestation of fear. Companies might be afraid of being caught in the crosshairs of organized online abuse campaigns by hate groups such as GamerGate. But are companies prepared for such campaigns?

Obviously, companies are free to keep their internal policies to themselves and to decline press interviews on specific topics. But employers with coherent plans that benefit their employees are usually happy to discuss them with the media, if only in the most general terms.

[...]

Those organizations that did respond to our question generally condemned online bullying in broad terms. With only one exception, they offered little in the way of information about practical support mechanisms.

Background for most of the online harassment:

The campaigns are often reactionary in nature, railing against any kind of change to the status quo. This is most especially the case when companies take a progressive path through issues like feminism and race. In many cases, women are targeted with grossly sexual slurs and imagery.

Game execs at Sony Online and Bungie have been doxxed, with serious legal repercussions. Other execs and creatives have lost their jobs, or just decided to quit, following intense social media abuse. Others have stepped back from social media, following threats against family members. These examples only include those people who work for large companies. Independent game developers and small companies are often targeted too.

Crash Override Network lays it out really well in terms of how to approach the issue and how some developers are targeted differently based on their identity and how companies should take responsibility:

Crash Override is an organization set up by independent game developer Zoe Quinn, to assist victims of online harassment. Quinn, a creator of unconventional games, has long been a central focus for abuse, and was a central target for GamerGate.

We asked her for "minimum expectations" of what employers should be doing to protect their employees. Here is part of her reply:

"At a minimum, employers need to be aware of the possibility, and get educated on the specific ways online abuse manifests above and beyond harassment, and can take the form of stalking, smear campaigns, doxing, hacking, and swatting.

"Companies need to take a real stance against the abuse happening in our industry, because communication between employees and employers is important. Employees need to know that they can talk to employers about their situation without fear of being fired for being too much of a risk, just because multimillion dollar companies might be worried about anime avatars yelling at them on Twitter.

"Companies have many more resources than individuals, and offshoring all the risk and responsibility of dealing with abuse to the people who are targeted by it is cowardice, full-stop. We need more than toothless 'we think harassment is bad' statements to achieve this. The industry in general needs to work on its working conditions, and to invest back in the people who make it what it is instead of treating passionate, hard-working people as disposable.

"They also need to know that although it can happen to anyone, marginalized people are disproportionately targeted for abuse. Any company that is making a commitment to diversity needs to plan beyond just hiring more marginalized people, and prepare to support them beyond the hiring process. "

And a little anecdote I saw on Twitter:

My old company had the CEO forward me every single abusive email they received so I'd stop tweeting anti-GG stuff!

Much more at the link: http://www.polygon.com/2016/7/22/12256114/how-are-games-companies-dealing-with-online-abuse

*These were 2K Games, Bethesda, Epic, Konami, Nexon, Sega, Ubisoft, Warner Bros. Interactive who refused to comment, while Activision Blizzard, Capcom, Disney Interactive, GameStop, Namco Bandai, Riot, Sony, Square Enix, Telltale, and Valve did not respond.

 

[Eolz]

Most of the policies (internal ones) are usually on a case by case basis.
I'm not a fan of Polygon implying that the companies not replying are doing that because they are essentially scared of something. They can perfectly have valid reasons of not replying to Polygon.

You can say that the anecdote is from Anthony Burch btw OP, his profile is public.
(edit just in case: I replied quickly because I already read the article an hour ago. It's not particularly interesting/new.)

 

[Htown]

Nobody wants to talk about it because they can't be sure how big this group of fucking assholes is, and they don't want to risk having them poison word of mouth against their products after deciding that Company X is an enemy due to them speaking out.

 

[Lime]

Most of the policies (internal ones) are usually on a case by case basis.
I'm not a fan of Polygon implying that the companies not replying are doing that because they are essentially scared of something. They can perfectly have valid reasons of not replying to Polygon.

Whatever their motives, their constant silence about online harassment only further emboldens the online harassers in their conviction that the game companies have their bigoted backs.

Nobody wants to talk about it because they can't be sure how big this group of fucking assholes is, and they don't want to risk having them poison word of mouth against their products after deciding that Company X is an enemy due to them speaking out.

Yup. I still can't believe Nintendo abandoned and threw Alison Rapp under the bus while the bigots were harassing her.