The comments section on any given social media/forum platform regarding the subject of inclusion in gaming makes for some uncomfortable reading at times. But why is breaking a habit of negative behaviour towards forward thinkers and the thoughtful members of our community such a big deal in 2020?
The rise of LGBT, racial, feminist and mental health awareness has been a blessing for many in recent years, but hate-fueled doxxing and online threats has cast a shadow over members of these communities.
A Continuing Presence
My recent article covering a couple of my own Role Models who happen to be female gained some entertaining responses over on N4G.com, mostly focusing on that I had shone a light on who people who happen to be women. The problem is, the argument of “not giving praise to women for their achievements” is counterproductive towards the end goal of treating everyone with the same amount of respect regardless of gender and preferences.
The Interactive Software Federation of Europe state that the level of women gamers has risen from 2012 – 2017, with female representation in games falling from 2015 according to wired.com It’s a shame to see these figures co-inside with perhaps the most female-inclusive E3 in 2015, with more female presenters and leads in games than in previous years. Dr Emma Vosen wrote the thesis “On the Cultural Inaccessibility of Gaming: Invading, Creating, and Reclaiming the Cultural Clubhouse” in 2018 which explores her self-coined phrase “cultural inaccessibility” for her 2018 PhD, here’s a brief breakdown:
“Cultural inaccessibility is a concept I’ve created to describe the ways that women are made to feel unwelcome in spaces of gameplay and games culture, both offline and online. Although there are few formal barriers preventing women from purchasing games, playing games, or acquiring jobs in the games industry, this dissertation explores the formidable cultural barriers which define women as “space invaders” and outsiders in games culture. Women are routinely subjected to gendered harassment while playing games, and in physical spaces of games culture, such as conventions, stores, and tournaments. This harassment and abuse is intensified toward female journalists, developers and academics who choose to speak publicly about sexism within the culture”
The full thesis can be found here, it’s a good read and provides a strong looking glass into inclusion within gaming.
Beyond Bad Taste
Rating and classifying games into an age-appropriate category is a difficult task, as is writing out a set of guidelines and rules to protect users and the integrity of a platforms content library. But a game that is literally called ‘Rape Day’ and gives players the option to rape just women shouldn’t pass any form of validation on any platform. Not only does it drag the gaming community through the mud and adds to the tabloid smear campaign effort, its a horrible way to make victims feel included in Steam’s community. Let’s not ignore the global brand image part either.
Another moment that attracted virtual torches and pitchforks was the 2016 online survival steam game ‘Rust’. Whilst the majority of the Rust community weren’t really phased by the auto-assignment of character traits such as race, gender and other characteristics, a vocal minority managed to make idiots out of themselves by refusing to accept their steam ID generated antagonists with some boycotting the title as a result of the developer decision.
Developers Garry Newman and Taylor Reynolds anticipated such a reaction and simply went on to say the Steam ID generated character traits were implemented to impersonate the real-life lack of control over personal specifics in order to encourage the immersion of survival in Rust.
Represent
On the topic of representation in games, A 2015 study on Nielsen.com found that 65% of the LGBT gamers involved in the study didn’t feel all sexual orientations are represented in gaming, compared to 31% of heterosexuals believing that all sexual orientations are covered in video games. The figures differ when it comes to races also, which reflects which side of the door our gaming industry leans towards despite a rise in awareness.
Transgender gamers have found comfort using VR experiences to help socially settle their transitions either before realignment surgery or to simply establish themselves as they deem suitable. Digital Trends credits the Playstation Home-like VRChat due to its 3D model importing options and seemingly endless interaction and customisation options. These simple options in titles help people from all walks of life feel more inclusive and ease social anxieties in general.
Although efforts of inclusion are being made by developers, The online Pokémon clone ‘TemTem’ caused an uproar at the beginning of the year thanks to its inclusion of gender-specific pronouns. Whilst this was a positive step for simply accepting every walk of life, the toxicity of the world wide web reared its ugly head with review bombs accusing TemTem of forcing players to identify as Trans.
Why is an evolving social landscape and inclusion such a problem? Dontnod’s next project Tell Me Why focuses on a trans protagonist unravelling a family secret, and the best news is that Dontnod hasn’t mentioned anything related to transgender in the game’s blurb. This, everyone, is inclusion at its finest, simply accepting and getting on with life.
If the gaming community could just collectively not point out and abuse others just because they’re different, both physically and mentally, it would make for a more pleasant landscape that everyone can enjoy.
