Playtika, Base44, Decart, Modulate and NYU Partner with The ADIR Challenge to Tackle Online Hate in Gaming

The GameChangers 2025 Fellowship brings together students, industry, and academia to confront antisemitism, extremism and hate harassment in online gaming

NEW YORK, Sept. 30, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The GameChangers 2025 Fellowship, organized by the ADIR Challenge in partnership with the NYU Center for the Study of Antisemitism, recently concluded a three-day program at New York University, uniting top students, industry leaders, and academic experts to address the escalating crisis of online hate in gaming.

The urgency of the program is clear. Research shows that 83 million of 110 million U.S. multiplayer gamers have faced harassment online, with three in four young players ages 10–17 reporting bullying, slurs, humiliation, or exclusion. A 2025 monitoring of 13 million youth gaming conversations revealed nearly 3,000 critical safety alerts, ranging from hate speech and toxicity to predatory behavior and self-harm mentions. These findings underscore how gaming platforms, while central to youth culture, too often expose players to systemic risks without adequate safeguards.

Backed by major industry partners including Playtika, Base44, Decart, Modulate, and Kidas, the fellowship brought together 30 students from more than 20 academic institutions in the U.S. and Israel to design scalable, tech-driven solutions that counter toxicity and extremism in gaming. Participants worked in teams to tackle two critical challenges: detecting harmful "edge-case" content such as coded memes, emojis, and satire, and developing gamified systems that reward positive behavior and build healthier digital communities.

The fellowship also featured workshops from leading experts, including sessions on entrepreneurship, AI tools, extremism and antisemitism, and risks to human rights in gaming. Mentors and judges came from across academia, nonprofit, and industry, including Google, Salesforce, the ADL, and NYU Game Center.

"As an organization that fights antisemitism and hate with research and data, we identified gaming as a frontline arena," said Morielle Lotan, CEO and Founder of The ADIR Challenge. "It's where young people spend their time, and where extremist actors exploit that presence. With GameChangers, we're bringing together industry, academia, the for profit and nonprofit sector, and most importantly students, to build safer gaming communities while ensuring the sector can thrive responsibly."

Winning teams introduced a range of innovative solutions, including an AI-powered moderation system that rewards civility and provides teachable moments for flagged harmful behavior; a Waze-style reporting system that makes it easy and rewarding for players to report coded hate, while generating a shared dataset of emerging hate symbols; and a dynamic dictionary of evolving hate slang, emojis, and memes built through incentivized player reporting and shared with publishers. An honorable mention went to a universal "Safe Game" badge, rewarding players with in-game perks for positive community engagement and signaling publisher adoption of prosocial practices.

"Gaming should be about entertainment and community, not harassment or exclusion," said Amnon Kalev, Executive General Manager at Playtika. "We are proud to join ADIR's initiative to confront hate and extremism in gaming. For us, gaming should be about entertainment and community, not harassment or exclusion. We are committed to leveraging our expertise to create safer, more inclusive environments for all players."

"As AI developers, our responsibility is not only to create new capabilities, but to ensure they serve communities safely and positively," said Moshe Shalev, Co-Founder & CPO, Decart. "Gaming is a space where AI can flip the script turning exclusion and toxic behavior into opportunities for inclusion and safety."

"ADIR is building a community that refuses to look away. In gaming, too many young people encounter harassment and are left isolated when the screens go dark," said Luisa Surma, Global Program Manager, Base44. "If we close our eyes, we raise another generation fluent in the language of division. That's why these students, from Israel and the United States, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, are choosing to act. They are developing apps that transform conflict into dialogue and isolation into belonging. With Base44, their ideas don't stay on paper, they become live applications that offer real solutions, fast. Ideas exist everywhere. Impact does not."

The program's impact was clear. 95.7% of participants said they would recommend the fellowship or participate again, underscoring that students see GameChangers as a meaningful way to confront online hate and would bring peers, a multiplier effect. 87% plan to continue their projects post-event, demonstrating sustainability as ideas evolve into real-world solutions. Students also reported significant knowledge growth, from awareness to understanding to action. Before the program, most rated themselves around 3 out of 5 on familiarity with antisemitism, extremism, and digital threats. Afterward, they cited new insights into AI moderation tools, how extremism spreads in gaming, and how to collaborate across divides. Importantly, 100% of participants valued the mix of high school and college students, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, reinforcing that GameChangers builds not just tools, but diverse coalitions.

As we look ahead to launching GameChangers 2026, the program will open applications for a new class of fellows eager to claim its highly coveted seats. This next chapter will welcome even more companies and partners, expand career pathways and networking opportunities, and introduce fresh industry challenges. At its core, GameChangers remains about more than technology, it is about building allies, empowering Jewish and non-Jewish students alike, and shaping lifelong entrepreneurs who are committed to combating hate and bringing good into the world.

About The ADIR Challenge
The ADIR Challenge is a nonprofit organization using tech, innovation, and data-driven strategies to counter antisemitism, hate, and extremism online. Founded in October 2023 by Morielle Lotan, ADIR identifies promising ideas through educational programming and industry competitions, supports them with mentorship and resources, and helps bring them to life through pilot projects and community partnerships. Its programs include tech challenges, labs, and initiatives like GameChangers, which bring together students, academia, industry, and nonprofits to build safer, more inclusive online spaces. Registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, ADIR believes that combating digital hate demands both offense and infrastructure: from detecting and understanding emerging threats to incubating solutions that are ethical, effective, and broadly adopted. Learn more at theadirchallenge.com.

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SOURCE The ADIR Challenge