Playing the Audience: Dealing with the Reality of Video Game Representation
If I asked you who comes to mind when you picture your friends or relatives that enjoy playing games, it’s likely that you draw a broad spectrum people of all races, age groups and genders who you know that spend hours on end enjoying video games whether on their phone, computer or consoles. Now for a follow-up question: think of as many lead characters from the most popular video game franchises as you can. The odds are that there is a wide disparity between the variety in the people you’ve known to play games, and the types of characters who take major roles in all the games that we play. As reported by the ESA in 2018, 41% of game-players in the US are women, and 31% of the entire game playing population are women over the age of 18, making a larger portion of the total than boys under the age of 18. So why is it that games aren’t representative of such a more diverse audience?
Well, the answer is rather simple when you break it down: the games industry is plagued with inequalities on several levels that prevent the prevalence of stories and games including or starring people from minorities or marginalized groups from being told. In a study done by 20-first for Forbes in 2020, they found that a mere 16% of the executive teams of the top 14 gaming companies across the globe were women. The battle against systemic inequalities in the entertainment industries and tech fields have been fought for decades at this point, with gaming as one of the newest fields when compared to businesses like the movie industry, which is currently going through its own reinvention as the deeply embedded tendrils of patriarchal dominance were made clear before the public in the recent #Metoo movements.
This could paint a rather bleak picture for the direction that games are headed, but the truth is that the gaming audience has certain advantages in helping influence where games can go from here. While insiders with industry access can do great things like create networks and organizations to help women and people of color land positions at studios to help their voices be heard, the gaming audience is well on its way to taking full advantage of social media and other resources to develop platforms to promote diversity in the industry and share exceptional examples of positive change in the industry.
In her popular online web series Anita Sarkeesian argues that, “It's both possible, and even necessary, to simultaneously enjoy media while also being critical of its more problematic or pernicious aspects.” Anita is saying here that audiences gain nothing if they passively accept the flaws of the media they consume, whether they are fans or not. A conscientious audience must strive foremost to develop on those complex feelings they have with games such that they can continue to build and improve upon media no matter how foundational the problematic works are considered.
This isn’t to say that all criticisms come from a place of good faith, however. Anybody connected to the gaming space throughout 2020 will easily recall the wildfire that spread across social media when leaked footage and documents revealed controversial plot details in the much anticipated PS4 title, The Last of Us: Part II. This type of outrage does little to advance audience relationships with developers or promote an environment of critical thinking in the gaming audience, especially considering the game in this example hadn’t even been released yet.
Given the rise of social media, it’s easier now than ever to develop a platform for you to share your opinions. Examples like this springboard post by Aaron Anthony Williams give us a great example of how modern audiences utilize their voices to contribute to the discourse and discuss issues our friends and those who we share interests with may not be fully aware of. Thoughtful critique of games has exploded within recent years as the cost of video editing and production software has decreased to an accessible level. Often times, developers pay special attention to these voices, especially when those concerns are shared over platforms that developers personally frequent themselves or where studios have accounts they make to interface with fans, good examples are Twitter and Reddit.
A queue building outside of my local Best Buy on Cyberpunk 2077's launch day, in December, during the pandemic.
Controversy surround games these days get as much or more publicity when things go south. Take Cyberpunk 2077, one of the most anticipated games of last year: controversy seemed to follow the game for several months preceding its release when CD Projekt Red, the games polish developers were entailed in a handful of scandals surrounding the game’s representation of trans people and ethnic minorities in trailers and demos. When we’ve got the advantage of reliable news sources reporting on the questionable content of upcoming games, we’re able to hold those companies accountable to their decisions by not investing in those companies when their games release.
This concept also extends to pre-orders, which are often incentivized by additional content or pre-release access by developers. Cyberpunk had earned much of its cash haul in the years between its announcement in 2012, and especially after its “gameplay trailer” in 2018, well before controversies surround its questionable depictions of minorities had become public knowledge. The lesson here being that the sooner a developer has its audience in their pocket, the less mindful they need to be to their audience’s sensibilities.
In conclusion, the relationship between developers and their audiences is a fresh new ground for change given the new tools available for the gaming audience. The majority of game development studios including those at the height of the industry have a long way to go in accurately representing the audiences that play their games, but the voices of marginalized groups have developed new ways to broadcast a more critical and responsible means of analyzing and sharing thoughts on games. This new wave of discourse surrounding popular games has a potential to affect change one even the largest game titles from a consumer level, which was an as yet unheard-of degree of cooperation between developers and their audiences, which casts a bright portend for the future of inclusivity in games.
· Sarkeesian, Anita. “Damsel in Distress: Part 1 – Tropes vs Women in Video Games”. YouTube, uploaded by Feminist Frequency, 7 March 20 21https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6p5AZp7r_Q
· Wittenberg-Cox, Aviviah. “Gaming Industry: Please Wait… Gender Balance Loading”. forbes.com. Forbes, 28 August 2020. Web. 26 February 2021.
· ESA. ‘Essential Facts: Diversity in the Video Game Industry’ 2020, ESA: Entertainment Software Association.
· Williams, Aaron A. "What Does Gender Have To Do With It: The Biases Of The Video Game Industry". The Future of Video Games. Springboard. 20 May 2016. Web. 26. February. 2021.
· Henley, Stacey. “It sucks that Cyberpunk 2077’s edgelord marketing worked so well.”. polygon.com. Polygon, 4 December 2020. Web. 26 March 2021.
· @zehugex. “Cyberpunk 2077 pre-sold 8 million copies prior to launch. That’s over $500m in revenue prior to release. For reference, GTAV did $800m on its first day including pre orders + day one sales.” Twitter,20 Dec. 2020, https://twitter.com/ZhugeEX/status/1336974249144315904
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