According to a 2018 survey published by the International Game Developers Association, 74% of workers in the industry identify as cis males, and 61% of them are white. LGBTQ+ characters, while often having their identity overshadowed, are also typically smaller characters within the story.ĭiversity in-game is an extremely important aspect of creating representation within the community, but other aspects of development still lack variety as well. If they don’t ask the correct questions, it’s never revealed.
If they ask a correct series of questions, players discover that the character is gay.
Players have a short quest where they are accompanied by a hunter. One example can be found in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. This in part may be due to backlash, but for LGBTQ+ fans, it feels as if these characters’ identities are being purposefully hidden. However not all characters have their sexuality revealed explicitly, and it is often hidden. Despite a large part of the backlash being aimed towards LGBTQ+ characters, videogame franchises such as The Last of Us and Borderlands represent change. The industry is moving slowly, and it can feel as if these companies are cosigning the behavior of toxic and hateful audiences rather than uplifting the less often heard voices within their community. Reactions such as the pushback to Aloy’s appearance could make developers more reluctant to create diverse characters. Just a few weeks ago, following the Horizon Forbidden West gameplay reveal, many fans were upset that Aloy lacked “feminine features’’ and said that she should be “prettier.” Games that feature LGBTQ+ characters are also prone to receiving hate online. Besides online lobbies being notoriously hateful towards women, people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community, companies also face backlash from fans for the tiniest of in-game changes that symbolize progression. It has also been clear for years that developers and major companies within the industry haven’t properly recognized the change in their audiences, which can be attributed to the toxic behaviors that take place within the community. Pushback to progressive ideals have since continued within the community, and these incidents do not exist within a vacuum.
This incident was a revealing look into the mindset of a community that feels entitled to the entire industry itself, and it exposed a rightward political shift within the community that was a direct retaliation to diversification.
Women in games, from developers to critics with progressive ideals, were subject to sustained harassment from misogynists, trolls and reactionaries who felt that women were altering the videogame industry in a way they disagreed with. Women make up close to half of the people who play games, and about 10% of gamers are within the LGBTQ+ community, according to last year’s Nielsen Games 360 Survey.Ī major, growing rift within the community was exposed by GamerGate in 2014, which was a large contributor to a rise in alt-right ideas among gamers. While at one point this generalization may have had some degree of accuracy-due in part to the industry itself largely focusing on that one demographic throughout its history-today’s gaming audience is continuously diversifying. What differentiates the gaming industry from other entertainment industries is the audience itself: “gamers” are still viewed as predominantly straight white men. The gaming industry, however, hasn’t seen as large a push for diversity and representation within videogames. Movements such as #OscarsSoWhite have spawned important conversations about diversity in film and television, and while there is a long way to go, audiences are seeing a greater variety of actors and stories on screen. Mawson Infrastructure Group Inc.Entertainment industries have the demanding task of creating content that properly reflects the communities that consume it. Progressive Care to Report First Quarter Financial Results on Īlliance Creative Group (ACGX) Reports Revenue of $2,865,404 for First Quarter of 2022 Ĭommerce Resources Produces Additional Mixed REC Sample with 22.4% NdPr from the Ashram Deposit, Quebec ĭemand Brands CEO Letter to Shareholders and The Year Ahead īranded Legacy, Inc. ™ (OTC:ERBB) Board Votes to Exercise its Option to Buy 40,000 square foot "Cypress Chill" Cannabis Building for $3,750,000 "VAPR" E-Cite Motors Profiled as AMAZING EV Auto Investment in EV Auto Insider - Above GOOD Tesla, and Those Making its' TERRIBLE Investment List Īmerican Green, Inc.
OMID Posts First-Quarter 2022 Financial Statements (RIII) Provides Shareholder updates ĭemand Brands and Truleaf discussing the future of DB's retail footprint