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Is Online Baccarat Legal in Canada? Read Before Playing

by admin October 2, 2025

Online baccarat holds a strong reputation as one of the most elegant casino games, both on the floor and behind the screen. In Canada, players who want to join a baccarat table from home face a unique legal setup.

Unlike many countries with a single federal framework, Canada leaves gambling law in the hands of its provinces — and this quilt of laws can create some confusion about legality and licensing.

Knowing where a casino is regulated, what authorities oversee it, and how disputes are handled helps anyone who wants to enjoy baccarat online with peace of mind.

Is Baccarat Legal in Canada? An Overview

Baccarat itself is legal to play online in Canada, but the rules that govern access vary depending on where you live. Gambling law is managed at the provincial level, so there is no single national regulator that covers every Canadian player. Instead, each province decides how to authorise online casinos, how to license operators, and how to protect players.

Ontario stands apart with its open market model, where multiple private companies can offer casino games under the oversight of AGCO and iGaming Ontario.

Other provinces rely on their lottery corporations, which provide government-operated sites for residents. Offshore casinos still accept Canadian players, though these are not officially sanctioned under Canadian law and carry different risks.

Live Dealer Baccarat

Live dealer baccarat has become one of the most popular online formats in Canada, and one that’s especially enjoyable once you learn baccarat rules before you play due to its quick flow. Players enjoy the chance to stream real-time tables, interact with professional dealers, and follow a more authentic casino rhythm.

These games operate from studios equipped with cameras, sensors, and advanced software to broadcast results instantly.

In Canada, live dealer legality depends on provincial oversight. Ontario-licensed platforms host games from certified providers that meet AGCO standards. Lottery-run sites in other provinces also partner with approved studios, though their selections may be more limited.

The Provincial Model Explained

Canada operates under a decentralised gambling model. Each province has the right to regulate its own gambling services, both land-based and digital. For players, this means that the legality of playing baccarat online depends largely on location.

Some of the oversight and licensing organs are:

AGCO in Ontario
The Kanawahke Gaming Commission
PlayNow in British Columbia
EspaceJeux in Québec

Ontario Licensed Casinos and Private Operators

Ontario is the only province that has opened its online casino market to private operators. The framework is built on a partnership between AGCO, which regulates and audits operators, and iGaming Ontario, which manages contracts and revenue sharing.

To operate in Ontario, an online casino must secure approval from AGCO and sign an agreement with iGaming Ontario. This process guarantees that operators meet requirements on fairness, security, and player protection. It also ensures that taxes and fees flow back into provincial programs.

The competition created by this offers players access to dozens of licensed sites that feature baccarat and other games under strict oversight. Compared to lottery-run platforms in other provinces, the variety is far broader.

How Other Provinces Handle Online Casinos

Outside Ontario, players primarily rely on government-operated casino sites. These platforms are overseen by each province’s lottery corporation or regulatory authority. Offshore casinos may still accept Canadian players, but they are not provincially sanctioned.

British Columbia

The British Columbia Lottery Corporation operates PlayNow, offering slots, table games, and live dealer options to residents. It is the province’s sole legal platform.

Quebec

Loto-Québec runs EspaceJeux, which provides an integrated online casino tied to its lottery offerings. All activity falls under its oversight.

Manitoba and Saskatchewan

Manitoba players can use PlayNow through a revenue-sharing agreement with British Columbia. Saskatchewan, on the other hand, launched a regulated online platform in partnership with the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA).

Alberta

Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission oversees PlayAlberta, which is the only government-approved casino site in the province.

Atlantic Provinces

In New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, Atlantic Lottery operates a joint platform offering casino and lottery games.

Across these regions, each provincial gaming authority controls who can provide online gambling, leaving little room for private competition.

Verifying a Casino License in Canada

Knowing how to confirm whether a casino is legal is crucial for Canadian players. Many offshore sites operate without local authorisation, and the risks of using such platforms include unclear dispute processes or slow withdrawals.

Thankfully, the process of checking a licence is straightforward and worth taking the time to complete before placing any wagers.

Check the operator’s website footer. All of the best casinos in Canada display their licence details, including the issuing authority.
Confirm the regulator’s seal. Clicking on logos such as AGCO or iGaming Ontario should redirect to an official confirmation page.
Cross-reference with government sites. Provinces publish lists of licensed operators, making it easy to double-check.
Look for KYC and responsible gambling details. Legitimate casinos explain age checks, deposit limits, and self-exclusion tools.
Pay attention to offshore-only licences. If the site only lists authorities outside Canada, it is not provincially approved; this doesn’t mean that the casino is unsafe, just that it’s licensed elsewhere.

Taking these steps helps players avoid disputes down the line.

Age Limits and Access Rules

Canadian provinces enforce strict age requirements for online gambling. KYC (Know Your Customer) processes confirm player identity before access is granted.

Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec: minimum age is 18.
All other provinces and territories: minimum age is 19.
Verification requires ID such as a driver’s licence or passport.
Casinos may request additional documents if the details do not match.

Following these rules ensures compliance with laws and protects underage individuals from accessing digital casinos.

Geolocation in Canadian casinos

Geolocation technology plays a central role in regulating online casinos. Licensed sites use software that confirms a player’s physical location within provincial boundaries. If a player attempts to log in from outside the province, access is blocked.

In Ontario, this system is strictly applied across all operators registered with iGaming Ontario. Online casinos in Alberta and in British Columbia implement similar controls.

The purpose is twofold: to comply with local law and to prevent unlicensed play across borders. Understanding geolocation technology helps explain why access differs depending on where players are physically located at the time of login.

Player Protection Standards

Every province with a legal online casino market includes safeguards designed to promote responsible play. These protections are a core part of regulated gambling and give players confidence that their well-being is taken into account when engaging online.

Deposit limits allow users to control how much money they add within specific timeframes, while self-exclusion programs create options for temporary or permanent suspension from licensed sites.

Reality checks pop up during sessions to remind players how long they have been active, and access to support services links players with counselling and helplines. Monitoring tools are also built into regulated sites to detect unusual patterns that may indicate risky play.

Disputes and Complaints

Even in regulated markets, disputes may arise over withdrawals, game outcomes, or account suspensions. Licensed provinces offer structured ways to escalate complaints.

Step 1: Contact the casino directly. Most issues can be resolved with customer support.
Step 2: Use internal dispute resolution forms. Licensed operators must provide formal procedures.
Step 3: Escalate to the regulator. Ontario players can file complaints with iGaming Ontario or AGCO. Other provinces have lottery commissions that review disputes.
Step 4: Consider external arbitration. In some cases, regulators may direct disputes to independent adjudicators.

Following these steps ensures that the complaint process in Canada is fair and transparent, though offshore operators may not provide the same recourse.

Finding the Right Casinos

Choosing where to play baccarat online is just as important as knowing the legal framework. Beyond legality, though, players often weigh factors such as live dealer availability, customer support, and withdrawal processes.

The following breakdown shows what matters most when evaluating casinos — you can check our top-rated baccarat casinos and pick your favorite.

Feature Checks

Ontarian platforms stand out because they offer variety, modern features, and live dealer baccarat streamed from certified studios. Players benefit from oversight by AGCO, which makes sure fairness and compliance are upheld at every level.

Outside Ontario, residents access baccarat through government-operated platforms like PlayNow, EspaceJeux, or PlayAlberta. These sites may not have the same range of operators, but they are secure and tied directly to provincial lottery corporations; plus, revenues flow back into community programs, and play is always within legal boundaries.

Safety Checks

No matter the province, it is wise to examine factors such as customer service availability, clear terms on bonuses, and transparent withdrawal timelines. Sites that offer reliable live dealer baccarat tables and straightforward account verification create a smoother experience.

Know the Law, Play the Game

Canadian players who enjoy baccarat online benefit most when they focus on regulated platforms. Licensing authorities in each province demand strong compliance, which means safer play, clearer payments, and access to responsible gambling tools.

This framework is built to protect those who want entertainment without unnecessary risks or disputes.

What matters next is making careful choices about where to play. Ontario’s competitive market offers dozens of options, and provincial lottery platforms provide secure alternatives in other regions. Both settings are grounded in legality, but the experience differs depending on the type of site and the oversight body involved.

The safest path is to join casinos that are licensed under Canadian authority, where regulations are active, fair play is audited, and responsible gambling measures are part of the design.

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October 2, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater will finally be getting its online Fox Hunt mode next month

by admin September 27, 2025

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater will finally be getting Fox Hunt – it’s online PvP mode – on the 30th October.

This mode, absent from the launch version of the game, will be available to owners of the game across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. This online mode is a competitive “hide-and-seek” style PvP mode where players have to find and take each other out using any tools they can find.

Up to 12-players can take part in a match at any one time, though according to the official Konami press release crossplay is still not supported.

Here’s the launch trailer for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake EaterWatch on YouTube

There are two available game modes: Survival Capture and Survival Intrude. The first is a capture the flag style mode where players must secure a dwindling number of cute green Kerotan, and the latter a battle royale style mode where players must battle over a shrinking play area.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater has proven popular, selling over a million copies on its launch day earlier this month. Since its launch the game has received a variety of patches to improve stability and performance, some good news for those who were waiting to give it a try.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is itself a fantastic recreation of the original game. In Eurogamer’s review it’s described as “an achievement for the development team behind Delta too, some of whom were original staff from the Metal Gear Solid 3 team. The legend of Metal Gear Solid 3 has been brought back to life thanks to their efforts, and the experience of playing it has put me in a position I could not have foreseen just a few years ago.”

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September 27, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

Brazil’s president has signed a ban on selling loot boxes to minors as part of a larger online child safety law

by admin September 26, 2025

In March, videogames will no longer be able to sell lootboxes to users under the age of 18 in Brazil due to a ban signed earlier this month by Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Part of a broader law passed by Brazil’s congress to enact online safety measures for children, the ban continues an ongoing international effort to regulate exploitative monetization practices (via Eurogamer).

The law, Lei 15.211/2025, aims to defend “the best interests of children and adolescents,” which it defines—according to machine translation—as “the protection of their privacy, safety, mental and physical health, access to information, freedom to participate in society, meaningful access to digital technologies, and well-being.”

Chapter 7 of the law says that “loot boxes offered in electronic games aimed at children and adolescents or likely to be accessible by them are prohibited, in accordance with the respective age rating.”

Additionally, the law mandates that games featuring “interaction between users through text, audio or video messages” must comply with guidelines established by a separate law passed in 2024, which requires companies to moderate “abuse and irregularities committed by users” and provide transparency for how their moderation systems are used, maintained, and updated.

Brazil isn’t the first country to attempt to regulate loot boxes, and likely won’t be the last. Belgium banned loot boxes—with varying degrees of success—in 2018, while US lawmakers, Dutch political coalitions, and members of Australian parliament have proposed their own bans on loot boxes as a form of digitized gambling.

For those protections to have any effect in Brazil, however, they’ll necessitate the usage of age-verification mechanisms. Previously, Brazilian law had considered it sufficient for users of digital services to self-declare their age. The new law, however, requires the providers of those services to “take proportionate, auditable and technically secure measures to assess the age or age range of users.”

While the law states “data collected to verify the age of children and adolescents may be used solely for this purpose, and its processing for any other purpose is prohibited,” similar age verification measures have been the source of privacy concerns as online safety legislation has advanced in the UK, Australia, some US states, and elsewhere.

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September 26, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Mario Kart World’s New Patch Improves Free Roam, Online Races

by admin September 24, 2025

Mario Kart World is being patched to 1.3.0, and with the rounder number comes a more significant update. It introduces a new way to play online with friends, a bunch of improvements in Free Roam, and yet again halfway suggests it will boost the frequency with which you’ll encounter three-lap races, but still in frustratingly ambiguous language.

Nintendo’s update notes for game patches are notoriously sparse. The most recent system update for the Switch 2 came with the legend, “General system stability improvements to enhance the user’s experience,” offering not a single extra detail. Mario Kart World‘s 1.1.2 patch notes were similarly a single sentence long. So 1.3.0’s detailed list is of some significance.

So the headline here is you can now join your friends online when playing Knockout Tour, alongside regular Race and Battle modes. There’s another nice touch that if when trying to join friends for Knockout Tour, Race or Battle online and the game is full, you and one other person can play Free Roam together while you wait. That’s a lot better than staring at a queue.

Talking of Free Roam, the new patch improves the map show it will finally show you the locations of P Switches you’ve already found, and the Peach Medallions you’ve previously claimed. Given how ubiquitous these are, and how (annoyingly) similar they can be, this’ll make it far easier to know if you’re just repeating yourself. Also, all those previously discovered P Switches will act as quick travel points, if a little unspecific—the notes say it’ll “move to a location near the P Switch.”

When it comes to the actual racing itself, one key improvement is a slight speeding up of the replenishment rate of item boxes, meaning a new one will spawn in more quickly after the previous is nabbed by an opponent, along with an increase in your time spent invincible after being spun out or crashing.

But most importantly, when playing “wireless” races there’s another increase to the frequency with which three-lap courses will appear. That was a common lament when the game was first released, first supposedly addressed in a patch at the end of July, although this didn’t do much to ease people’s frustration, and many suspected didn’t actually affect online racing at all. Hopefully this latest tweak will make a more noticeable improvement, although it’s worth noting that yet again the patch notes speak only of “wireless” and not “online,” and no one knows if this is a deliberate distinction. God knows why Nintendo won’t just let it be a fixed toggle we can flip on—clearly World‘s new contiguous races have so enamored Nintendo that it isn’t able to let go of them properly, much to the ongoing frustration of players.

The notes also come with changes to UFOs in Free Roam, and a bunch of fixes for some niche issues. We’re obviously still a fair way off the time when updates will include new and classic courses getting added, which is when things get much more interesting. You can read all the patch notes below:

General

You can now join friends playing “Knockout Tour” by selecting “Friends” from “Online Play” “1p.”
Up to 2 players can now play “Free Roam” while waiting if the game was full when trying to join friends playing “Race,” “Knockout Tour” or “Battle” in “Online Play.”
The “Free Roam” map now displays the locations of P Switches you’ve run over and Peach Medallions you’ve obtained.
- You can now select a P Switch from the map and move to a location near the P Switch.
In “Free Roam”, you can now transform into the character pulled into the UFO.
- If “Dash Food” in “Settings/Controller” is set to “Doesn’t transform” then you will not transform.
It is now easier to encounter UFOs in “Free Roam.”
The conditions for the appearance of some Peach Medallions in “Free Roam” have been adjusted.
When spectating in “Knockout Tour” or “Balloon Battle” in “Online Play” or “Wireless Play”, you can now choose who to watch, even if you are holding the Joy-Con 2 or Joy-Con horizontally.
Decreased the time between when an item box is taken by someone and the next time it is revived.
Increased the invincible time after spinning or crashing during a race.
Reduced the force of jumps when landing on a rival from above.
Decreased the amount of time between when you finish and when spectating begins in “Knockout Tour” or “Balloon Battle” in “Online Play” or “Wireless Play.”
Decreased the amount of time between passing through the checkpoint and when the ranking is displayed in “Knockout Tour” in “Wireless Play” and “LAN Play.”
Further increased the frequency of lap-type courses appearing in the selection when choosing the next course in “VS Race” and wireless races.

Fixed Issues

Fixed an issue in “Online Play” and “Wireless Play” where the ranking would sometimes become incorrect if a player went off course at the same time as reaching the finish line.
Fixed an issue in “Grand Prix”, “Knockout Tour”, and “VS Race”, where the CPU’s ranking would sometimes drop after reaching the finish line.
Fixed an issue in “Knockout Tour” in “Online Play” where other players’ ratings would sometimes appear as “0” on the results screen.
Fixed an issue where a Spiny Shell would sometimes pass the first place player in “Wireless Play” or “Online Play.”
Fixed an issue where players would sometimes be sent flying backwards a great distance when hit by a Spiny Shell.
Fixed an issue where the second item in an item slot would sometimes not disappear when hit by Lightning.
Fixed an issue where hitting the base of a pillar in mid-air would sometimes cause a large jump.
Fixed an issue that sometimes caused movement to become unstable when doing a wall ride on water.
Fixed an issue where players would sometimes be swept away strongly after landing when doing a mini jump while going up a river.
Fixed an issue where players would sometimes pass through the ground when hit by a car driving on the road.
Fixed an issue in “Free Roam” where players would sometimes be unable to enter pipes correctly after exiting a trailer.
Fixed an issue where the results screen would sometimes become distorted after spectating “Balloon Battle” in “Online Play.”
Fixed an issue where the game would sometimes not proceed to the course selection screen after exiting a pipe during “Free Roam” in “Online Play.”
Fixed an issue where Bullet Bill would sometimes slip through walls when used in “Sky-High Sundae.”
Fixed an issue where players would sometimes get stuck on a wall at the start of the race heading from “Airship Fortress” to “Shy Guy Bazaar.”
Fixed an issue where players would sometimes get stuck in walls when using a Bullet Bill in “Bowser’s Castle.”
Fixed an issue in “Cheep Cheep Falls” where item boxes were sometimes difficult to pick up when Smart Steering was turned on.
Fixed an issue in “Knockout Tour” “Spiny Rally” where sometimes there was an item box buried in the ground.
Several other issues have been addressed to improve the gameplay experience.

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September 24, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Tune in to the Tokyo Game Show 2025 Capcom Online Special Program tomorrow

by admin September 23, 2025

Tomorrow, Capcom will showcase several games at TGS starting at 7AM PDT/10AM EDT. You can view the livestream on TGS’ YouTube Channel, or Capcom’s official Twitch and YouTube channels. The showcase will include 50-minutes of updates for Onimusha: Way of the Sword, PRAGMATA, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, Street Fighter 6, Monster Hunter Wilds, and more.

For more on all things Capcom, stay tuned to GamingTrend.

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September 23, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Play online shooter ARC Raiders free next month in final test weekend before release

by admin September 23, 2025

Embark Studios will launch an ARC Raiders Server Slam ahead of the online shooter’s release, so players can get a taste of what to expect.

While a couple of public network tests have already run, the studio is providing one last weekend from 17th – 19th October for players across the globe to check out the game on all platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC (Steam, Epic).

No codes or pre-registration will be required for entry, plus participants will receive an exclusive backpack cosmetic as thanks to unlock with a full game purchase, although progress won’t carry over.

Pre-Order Trailer | ARC RaidersWatch on YouTube

ARC Raiders is a PvPvE sandbox shooter from the studio behind The Finals, which merges extraction and survival gameplay.

The full game will be released on 30th October.

“We’re excited to welcome Raiders to the Server Slam – this is where we’ll really put ARC Raiders through its paces ahead of full launch,” said executive producer Aleksander Grøndal. “Our goal is simple: make sure that on October 30, when the servers go live, every player experiences the game exactly as we’ve intended – polished, balanced, and ready for action. Thanks for joining us – let’s prepare to go topside.”

The game’s most recent test was at the end of April this year, but it’s been a long time coming – ARC Raiders was first revealed at The Game Awards in 2021 and has since received a genre change.

It also won’t be free-to-play when it releases. It’s available to pre-order now.

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September 23, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

A PS4 trophy list for 2007’s Tomb Raider: Anniversary has leaked online

by admin September 21, 2025

A trophy list for a PS4 version of 2007’s Tomb Raider: Anniversary has popped up online.

While we’ve heard nothing official about a Tomb Raider: Anniversary re-release – let alone confirmation of a third remastered collection – the achievements are available on the PlayStation trophy tracking site, True Trophies.

The history of Tomb Raider – 20 years of Lara Croft.Watch on YouTube

Odds are, however, this is probably just a port rather than the next instalment of Aspyr’s remaster efforts, not least because there are substantially fewer trophies than we would expect from a modern remaster, and as the redditor who spotted the leak posits, we’d probably see trophies for Legend and Underworld, too, if Anniversary was part of wider collection.

As the OP explains it, “the style of this leaked list tracks with other games released for Sony’s classics catalogue, e.g. the small number of trophies and the design of the images. If it were Saber’s remaster, it would likely have a large, expansive list of things to do, and the images would be in the same style as TR1-6 were”.

Anniversary leaked for PS4
byu/VeldinX inTombRaider

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That doesn’t mean Aspyr isn’t working on a new remastered collection, of course, only that this probably isn’t it. We’ll probably find out for sure one way or the other soon, though.

Tomb Raider is one of the most storied franchises in gaming history. Debuting almost 30 years ago, Lara Croft’s first adventure was one of the pioneers of early 3D gaming, and turned the fearless explorer into an instant icon. Here’s how to play the entire Tomb Raider franchise in order, either by release or chronological date.

Françoise Cadol, the actor who voiced the French version of Lara Croft in all of Tomb Raider games from their inception to 2008, recently revealed she was taking legal action against Aspyr Media for the apparent AI-generated use of her voice in the Tomb Raider 4-6 remasters.

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September 21, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Discord, Twitch, Reddit, and Steam CEOs invited to testify at “radicalization of online forum users” hearing

by admin September 20, 2025

US Congress has sent formal letters to the CEOs of Twitch, Steam, Reddit, and Discord, inviting them to testify at a committee hearing about the “radicalization of online forum users,” following the assassination of Charlie Kirk earlier this month.

The letters were sent by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman James Comer on September 17, 2025, and were addressed to Discord Inc. CEO Humam Sakhnini, Valve Corporation president Gabe Newell, Twitch Interactive CEO Dan Clancy, and Reddit Inc. CEO Steve Huffman.

“The politically motivated assassination of Charlie Kirk claimed the life of a husband, father, and American patriot,” Comer said in the press release announcing the invitations.

“In the wake of this tragedy, and amid other acts of politically motivated violence, Congress has a duty to oversee the online platforms that radicals have used to advance political violence.

“To prevent future radicalization and violence, the CEOs of Discord, Steam, Twitch, and Reddit must appear before the Oversight Committee and explain what actions they will take to ensure their platforms are not exploited for nefarious purposes.”

The committee hearing takes place on October 8, 2025, and, according to the letters, which each have the same contents aside from the CEO’s name and business address, will “examine radicalization of online forum users, including incidents of open incitement to commit violent politically motivated acts.”

“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is the principal oversight committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate ‘any matter’ at ‘any time’ under House Rule X,” the letters read.

These invites are not subpoenas, and therefore, it’s not legally mandatory for any of these CEOs to attend. However, should they refuse, they risk being subpoenaed at a later date.

Those who agree to attend the hearing must provide their written testimony at least two days prior, with each given the opportunity to give a five-minute opening statement before being asked questions by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee members.

Reddit told Reuters it hadn’t yet found evidence that the suspect arrested in connection with Charlie Kirk’s murder, Tyler Robinson, had been active on its platform, and added that it “has strong policies against hateful content and content that incites, encourages, glorifies, or calls for violence.”

However, Discord told Reuters that it welcomes the opportunity to testify, saying: “We continuously engage with policymakers on these critical issues and look forward to continuing this important dialogue next month.”

As reported by BBC News, Discord confirmed that Robinson had sent a message in a Discord group chat in which he appeared to take responsibility for the shooting.

“It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this,” the message read, a Discord spokesperson confirmed to the BBC.

Discord told the news outlet, however, that, following an internal investigation, the company found “no evidence that the suspect planned this incident or promoted violence on Discord”.

Neither Twitch nor Valve has publicly confirmed whether their CEOs will attend the hearing.

GamesIndustry.biz has reached out to Twitch, Discord, Reddit, and Valve for comment on this story.

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September 20, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

No One Knows What ‘Terminally Online’ Means Anymore

by admin September 19, 2025

“No one person owns a meme, they’re a universal template,” says Matthew Kriner, executive director of the Institute for Countering Digital Extremism. “We do not see a meme itself as an indication of what the ideology behind it is.” This hasn’t stopped people from attempting to use the memes as proof that Robinson was part of a certain political groups. Some completely misunderstood the memes, such as the BBC’s Mike Wendling, who suggested in a post that a gaming reference, which was later attributed to Helldivers 2, might be linked to antifa. Others, like the Telegraph analyzed purported connections between Robinson and the Groypers.

Sadly, Groypers aren’t the only online group that uses the language and practices of memes to advocate and commit acts of political violence. As far-right movements have gained significant political power worldwide, the irony seems to have been replaced by nihilism. The past few years have seen new internet movements like the Com network and 764. These groups, made up largely of isolated underage people, are centered around criminal acts such as committing abusive, violent, and exploitative practices like sextortion in the name of creating the most chaos and fear possible, with no other ideological or political agenda. The FBI has categorized these groups as NVE (nihilistic violent extremism), and they operate in much the same ways, and along the same vectors, as more benign online communities.

“In the 2010s, radicalization was about being the underdog, using grievance culture to shift narratives,” says Jamie Cohen, professor of media studies at Queens College. “Today, the institutions are fully captured by far-right narratives. The culture is shifted, so radicalization is stochastic incidents designed to sow chaos.”

There’s no indication Robinson was a member of any of these NVE groups, though they offer context into how these crimes can often lack any political intent or meaning. “We often research individual perpetrators to understand how memetic elements fit into the larger data and history of their lives,” says Kriner. “[With Robinson] we have little to no public information, so making inferences is challenging, if not impossible, based on what we have in the public eye right now.”

New details have emerged that give some further grounding without anything definitive. Some reports claimed that Robinson was not registered with either political party, but that both his parents were registered Republicans; according to court docs, his mother said he became more invested in “pro-gay and trans rights” in recent months.

In the aforementioned text exchange, Robinson allegedly said “I had enough of his hatred” in reference to Kirk. Independent reporter Ken Klippenstein, meanwhile, investigated a Discord server frequented by Robinson and reported that Robinson virtually never mentioned politics, focusing instead on games like Helldivers 2, which is directly referred to by one of the engraved memes.

Robinson’s Discord server seems to have been a conventionally silly and friendly internet community. The exact kind of space that still exists and flourishes on the internet alongside the more violent and chaotic groups. Similarly, the memes cited by law enforcement that were inscribed on the bullets started out as harmless in-jokes before they were given a new, deadly context last week.

“We often use memes as indicators, as guideposts of where to look deeper,” said Kriner. “They can be a helpful tool, but they can also be a distraction.” And without a clear understanding of the context and culture surrounding these memes, they seem to have been a distraction for most people looking for meaning.

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September 19, 2025 0 comments

CEOs of online platforms appear in a Congressional tweet.

Game Reviews

Alleged Shooter’s Discord Chats Cut Against Rush To Blame Online Games And Memes

by admin September 18, 2025

The race to define what the brutal murder of right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk last week means and why it happened has led a lot of people to say a lot of things. Some of those things, like blaming the sci-fi shooter Halo for fomenting class warfare, or suggesting the alleged shooter was radicalized by the “meme-ification” of the internet, look increasingly like absurd, knee-jerk, and ill-informed reactions, as a recent report about the actual contents of one of the gaming Discord servers the suspect was active on suggests none of that.

On Monday, The Washington Post reported that alleged gunman Tyler Robinson had admitted to the crime in a Discord message to friends last week. Yesterday, independent reporter Ken Klippenstein shared actual screenshots of messages allegedly posted on the server, alongside an interview with some of its other members. According to his report, the Discord hangout was far from the hotbed of political radicalization some politicians and pundits have claimed it would be.

According to Klippenstein, there were only a couple of mentions of either President Donald Trump or former President Joe Biden in the chat logs, and those were apolitical mentions of recent news events. “Cat memes, weather updates, home improvement and the odd Garfield reference populate Robinson’s posts,” Klippenstein writes.

“Obviously he’s okay with gay and trans people having a right to exist, but also believes in the Second Amendment,” an apparent childhood friend of Robinson’s told Klippenstein. “To all of us he just seemed like a simple guy who liked playing games like Sea of Thieves, Deep Rock Galactic, and Helldivers 2, loved to fish and loved to camp…it really did seem like that’s all he was about.”

🚨 BREAKING NEWS: CEOs of Discord, Steam, Twitch, and Reddit have been called to testify in front of Congress.

They will answer to the American people how their platforms have been used by RADICALS to advance POLITICAL VIOLENCE, including the assassination of Charlie Kirk. pic.twitter.com/bNbgqSLeNq

— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) September 17, 2025

This lack of an easily applicable, ready-made narrative about Kirk’s alleged murderer that would paint him has a politically aggrieved radical comes as those leading the national conversation, like FBI Director Kash Patel, rush to ascribe motives. “[Gaming] can desensitize to the point where that person involved in these games looks at other people…and they’re not even human beings, they’re simply avatars,” former FBI profiler Dr. Mary Ellen O’Toole told Fox News this week.

According to charging documents filed by Utah County prosecutors on Tuesday, Robinson told his roommate in text messages that he allegedly killed Kirk because “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.” The prosecution’s evidence suggests Robinson may have targeted Kirk specifically over transphobic comments he made in the past. But it also didn’t allude to any political radicalization fomented by online platforms like Discord and Reddit. That hasn’t stopped at least one high-profile politician from calling on the executives of those companies to testify before Congress about “the radicalization of online forum users.”

“The politically motivated assassination of Charlie Kirk claimed the life of a husband, father, and American patriot. In the wake of this tragedy, and amid other acts of politically motivated violence, Congress has a duty to oversee the online platforms that radicals have used to advance political violence,” House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) announced on Wednesday. “To prevent future radicalization and violence, the CEOs of Discord, Steam, Twitch, and Reddit must appear before the Oversight Committee and explain what actions they will take to ensure their platforms are not exploited for nefarious purposes.”

The hearing is set to take place on October 8, 2025 and is the first time Discord in particular will have been called on to testify. Members of Tiktok, X, and Meta were grilled last year about online child safety concerns. A spokesperson for Discord has previously said there was “no evidence that the suspect planned this incident or promoted violence on Discord.”

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September 18, 2025 0 comments