What Vibrating Buttplug Support in a Video Game Taught Us About the Future of Webcam Work
What began as a video game joke turned into a happy accident – a potential revenue stream for sex workers.
At the intersection of gunplay and anal play
Ultrakill bills itself as ultra-violent, right down to its title. The game thrives on intensity and destruction, drawing on the Doom-esque cycle of violence-unto-violence that built the shooter genre.
So, people were understandably surprised when the developers officially deployed vibrating buttplug support. More specifically, they implemented a haptic feedback modification for the game so that in-game events could translate into vibrations for connected devices.
Haptic feedback is standard in console game controllers to give players tactile feedback, but what raised eyebrows (and perhaps other body parts) was the fact that their system was implemented in buttplug.io. Buttplug.io is not a standard framework for video game controller haptics, but is an open-source framework for controlling sex toys.
This tongue-in-cheek community interaction wasn’t aimed at webcam sex workers specifically, but it does inspire some possibilities about the future of sex tech and streaming.
Thanks for the tip. [buzz] [buzz]
Audience interaction is a core component of live-streamed entertainment, which bridges the gap between parasocial and in-person entertainment. Tipping for sex acts and favors is a staple of audience interaction in webcam sex work. Long-distance Bluetooth devices from companies like Lovense, Kiiroo, and We-Vibe that vibrate in response to incoming tips are near-ubiquitous in this realm of adult entertainment. Even so, there’s always room for innovation.
From phone sex lines to pandemic-enforced domination via Zoom, sex work is adept at innovating and navigating the current landscape and restrictions. The possibility of connecting the disparate worlds of video game streaming and webcam sex work is closer than any of us expect. After all, Twitch livestreams are built on the same principles as webcam work: a performer interacts with an audience for income and entertainment.
A demand exists
Video game streaming already interacts with sex work, often negatively. Streaming giant Twitch has repeatedly tightened its rules on nudity and attire – procedures that disproportionately affect women. In other instances, streams considered sexually suggestive are demonetized, and streamers are banned (and rapidly reinstated). Even though these actions are not sex work by legal standards, they can still run afoul of advertisers and shareholders.
At the other end, Chaturbate has spent the last two years expanding into sexually explicit gaming via a list of broadcast-approved games. This direction is likely driven by the fact that men remain the primary audience for webcam sex work, and are also the majority of gaming stream viewers.
This expansion into gaming also begs for novel forms of audience interaction between performer and audience. Sex expert, dominatrix, and writer Emme Witt notes that this market is real: “They [young people] spend hours playing video games. So as they come of age, I believe they will seamlessly integrate their gaming technology with what they desire in terms of porn and camming.”
As it stands, there is an audience interested in participating in new forms of live-streamed sex entertainment, and the need for novelty is forever strong. The logical conclusion is that the adult industry will have an opportunity to innovate once more with inspiration from a prank vibrating buttplug modification.
A vibe-rant future
Exactly how the adult entertainment industry will implement this potential revenue stream (no pun intended) is still up in the air, as this is an emerging technology developed with humorous intent.
Witt has some ideas, adding that, “My work has been camming through Skype with clients I met elsewhere… I have operated [sex] toys on them through an app. Maybe it's an electrical [sex] toy or a vibrating butt plug/cock ring.” She points out use cases for these technologies in one-to-one webcam sex work. Beyond using remote sex toys with a wider audience, teledildonics is a pivotal part of one-on-one relationships playing over distances.
However, there are reasonable concerns about adopting this technology willy-nilly. Certified sex coach Amber Shine points out that, “there may be some privacy and security concerns with using such devices in this way. Additionally, there could be legal and ethical considerations around the use of such devices, particularly in regard to consent and the protection of sex workers.” Security concerns are especially valid, considering the security risks of remote sex toys. Likewise, online sex workers are regularly harassed for their work, and their needs should never be overlooked.
Even so, a video game update that began as a joke has put a spotlight on future avenues in the wide world of teledildonics. It’s just a matter of where the users take this future and how they adopt the technology. Ultrakill’s developer certainly had a clue when their original announcement read, “Why? Because we know our fans.”
