What Is 'GoonerGate'? The Divisive Anti-Woke Viral Debate About Religion And Censorship In The Gaming Community Explained

In early December 2024, a controversy known as "GoonerGate" emerged within the "anti-woke" gamer crowd, which consists of a group of individuals advocating against video game companies "pushing an agenda” for what they perceive as obsessively politically correct characters and games that don't align with their religious values.

The viral debate seems like an offshoot of the infamous 2014 GamerGate event, which was a massive campaign about the lack of transparency within the video game journalism industry, claiming to seek integrity assurance that gaming coverage had not been bought with perks or favors.

For anyone who doesn't know what the incident was all about and how it relates to GoonerGate, YouTuber Thorable Inu posted a "GamerGate in 60 seconds" video that will give you a quick explanation, but you can also dig into our more extensive entry for additional info.

Moving forward more than a decade later, we now have "gooners" at the center of an intense debate over what some perceive as an excess of lewd fan service and the lack of Christian values in the design and content of recent games.

The controversy is still escalating and developing on social media as of mid-January 2025, but we'll explain how gooning, anti-woke, DEI and fan service tie together in the GoonerGate drama.

What Is Gooning?

Gooning is a slang term referring to a sexual practice that involves a person masturbating to adult content for prolonged periods without climaxing — a method also known as "edging" but with some extra elements.

If you still need more on that topic, YouTuber Professor Lando explains in the video below the origins of gooning and its usage as slang, and we also have a more detailed explainer here.

Originating in late 2022, the practice gained significant recognition online in recent years, leading to the creation of memes and references to concepts like "goon caves" and "gooning kits."

What Is The GoonerGate Debate?

As we touched on earlier, GoonerGate, also referred to as Gooner Gate or Goonergate Censorship, takes the meaning of the internet slang "gooning" and applies it to an ongoing heated debate started by content creators advocating for religious values regarding character design and content in video games.

The GoonerGate controversy started in early December 2024 after X user @Pirat_Nation reposted a clip showing the design of Luna, a character from The First Descendant video game, showcasing her provocative animation and questioning, "Is this what gamers want?"

The post became a catalyst for several Christian content creators to voice their religious inputs about the current state of the gaming industry, advocating for less lewd character design, especially with female characters.

YouTuber and gaming content creator @SicklyTheNinJa replied to @Pirat_Nation's tweet on December 7th, writing, "This is not where the future of gaming should be headed. The constant promotion of half-naked women as the ‘greener side’ of gaming is getting ridiculous, and I’m beginning to think that these people who say they want to ‘save’ gaming don’t actually want to save it."

Christian-oriented video game content creator Melonie Mac (or Melonie Mac Go Boom) was one of the main voices in the controversy after she pointed out in a video why she's against "the queer stuff" and "perverts" gamers.

In the video, posted in mid-January 2025, she claims she was purportedly canceled by the "anti-woke side" because she does not want "perversion in video games."

Why Anti-Woke Gamers Are Mad At Christian Gaming Content Creators?

The topic showed a fracture in the anti-woke community, which perceived some of the Christian content creators' demands as a form of imposing their values on the gaming community.

Gamers like YouTuber SmashJT argued with SicklyTheNinJa regarding The First Descendant topic, which escalated to a "bizarre personal attack" on JT's family, as he claimed in a blog post. The creator also posted a video on the same day, explaining what the GoonerGate controversy is from their perspective.

How Is Social Media Reacting To GoonerGate?

Over the course of a month since the GoonerGate debate began, social media is still vividly talking about the topic with no signs of a consensus between the anti-woke groups.

For instance, in December 2024, YouTuber KNIGHTS WATCH posted a video titled "Can Christian Prudishness go too far?" in which he reacted to other creators' statements about the GoonerGate controversy, sharing his views as a Mormon and gaming content creator.

Other gamers voiced their dissatisfaction with the proportions the discussion has gone in the community, as X user @BlabberingC called the GoonerGate debate "dumb" and said, "you don't like it, don't play it. I thought 'this side' was about just playing fun and agenda-free games."

Goonergate is dumb AF. Let the free market decide. If you don't like it, don't play it. I thought "this side" was about just playing fun and agenda free games.Now we have people telling others what they should and should not be playing… almost like…. an SJW??🤭🤭🤭 pic.twitter.com/CTkYEdYAuB

— BlabberingCollector (@BlabberingC) January 17, 2025

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For the full history of the GoonerGate, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.