In 2008, rather outspoken writer Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw employed term “Glorious PC Gaming Master Race” in his Zero Punctuation video-review for the role-playing game “The Witcher” for the online gaming magazine The Escapist.
Croshaw explained that his initial intent in referencing Nazi Germany’s master race ideology when he coined the intense term “Glorious PC Gaming Master Race” was to poke fun at an elitist attitude that he perceived among some of the Witcher’s PC player base at the time of The Witcher’s release, who had complained about the PC release of the game being possibly negatively affected by the console port of the game.
Croshaw’s remarks only strengthened these ideologies, snowballing their elitist attitudes to what is now that can only be described as a cult of both white supremacy and white privilege. Since then, they have created multiple outlets to connect with other white supremacists with millions of followers.
I’d like to point out that the “featured image”- the image that is displayed on the home page and at the top of this article. Was not something that was created by us. The art is from Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw, from his original videos, and it is featured as a cornerstone for the artwork dedicated to the “PC master race”. They purposely make art treating others as peasants and lessers.
It was intended to be ironic, to illustrate what I perceived at the time to be an elitist attitude among a certain kind of PC gamer. People who invest in expensive gaming PCs and continually spend money to make sure the tech in their brightly-lit tower cases is up to date. Who actually prefer games that are temperamental to get running and that have complicated keyboard interfaces, just because it discourages new or ‘casual’ players who will in some way taint the entire community with their presence; I meant it as a dig.
Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw
Glaringly Obvious Problematic History with the Phrase Usage
The “master race” is a WW2 concept Nazi ideology in which the putative Nordic or Aryan races, predominant among Germans and other northern European peoples, are deemed the highest in racial hierarchy. Members of this alleged master race were referred to as Herrenmenschen (“master humans”).
The Slavs (along with Gypsies and Jews) were defined as being racially inferior and non-Aryan Untermenschen, and were thus considered to be a danger to the “Aryan” or Germanic master race. According to the Nazi secret Hunger Plan and Generalplan Ost, the Slavic population was to be removed from Central Europe through expulsion, enslavement, starvation, and extermination, except for a small percentage who were deemed to be non-Slavic descendants of Germanic settlers, and thus suitable for Germanisation.
How it Correlates to Present Day
Yahtzee’s video was created twelve years ago, but the phrase is still everywhere, said without any consideration (or perhaps understanding) of the historical context, without any consideration of the original context, and without any of the original self-mockery. A lot of PC gamers present day hold it up as their identity, and it’s getting extremely uncomfortable.
Usage of the phrase “(anything) master race” is a direct correlation to the “Aryan master race” concept. By considering ones’ self above anyone because they cannot afford to spend recklessly on a computer with the best parts, is blatantly systemic white privilege. Imagine spending over $1500 on a computer, when there are entire communities that are struggling to find their next meal.
I have reached out to the moderators of the subreddit “r/pcmasterrace” to question them on the ties to the phrases’ historical roots. They told me “They covered that in their rules on the sidebar. Rule #7- Linking the PC Master Race with racial supremacy or any kind of fascist ideologies, or making distasteful analogies in this regard, is not acceptable in the slightest.” and then I was promptly banned from the subreddit.
If you have to explain that your community “isn’t” about racial supremacy then maybe you’ve chosen a poor name for your community, and the act of banning me shows you only have something to hide.
Twitter Poll
We are currently holding a twitter poll to see if the phrase is racist and if it should be banned. Many of the racist “PC master race” community members hijacked it, clearly not understanding it’s problematic roots. Together, we can end racism, one racist phrase at a time.
