Transgender heroes, Afro haircuts and indigenous peoples: studios are switching to more inclusive video games, under pressure from players, more demanding “representativeness” in characters and plots, and the impetus of a new generation of sensitive creators to these issues.
The most telling example: the introduction to the highly anticipated GTA VI of Lucia, the first playable female main character in the history of Grand Theft Autowhile the sultry franchise has been criticized for decades for its misogynistic and hypersexualized representations of women, and caricatures of minorities.
In an industry marked by high-profile cases of harassment (Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, etc.), “we are becoming more and more aware” of the need for a “more thoughtful” representation of female characters, Ashley Reed, manager, told AFP. of the narration of Apex Legends, published by the American studio Electronic Arts.
If there is a “real questioning” of the major studios since these cases, “the trigger comes mainly from the players”, explains to AFP Jennifer Lufau, consultant on inclusion in video games and founder of Afrogameuses, association advocating for better representation of black women in the video game industry.
“It is because there is a real demand for representativeness in the content they consume, even more so with the rise of social networks”, that the studios “realize that there is diversity” among THE gamersbeyond the stereotype of the “white guy”, she adds, citing the example of a “ bad buzz » around the game Animal Crossing.
Star of confinement, this game which allows you to personalize your avatar as you wish, from clothes to haircut, was the subject of a petition at the end of 2020 bringing together more than 50,000 signatures to protest against the absence of Afro hairstyles in the available options.
“Sensitivity reviewers”
“I can’t believe it, but Nintendo listened to us! We got more inclusive hairstyles! I cried when I found out […] My avatar looks like me now! “, wrote Taniesha Bracken, a young woman from Denver and author of the petition, after the update from the Japanese publisher.
To avoid this kind of blunders when designing games, studios appoint directors of inclusion, like Ubisoft since February 2021, to promote in particular the recruitment into creative teams of “talent” from diversity and/or more sensitive backgrounds. to these questions.
Like the literary world, they also increasingly call on specialized consultants, “sensitivity proofreaders” (sensitivity readers in English).
This recent profession, which is developing especially in the United States or Great Britain, points out cultural inconsistencies both in scenarios and in visual representations, even if they are seen, by some, as censors.
“My role is really to explain to them how what they are proposing will be perceived and how they can avoid falling into certain traps which will create stereotypes,” underlines Jennifer Lufau.
Cutting-edge independent studios
Aware that video games are a “powerful” medium for conveying “inclusive and progressive messages”, independent studios remain the first to have put these themes in the spotlight, like the French studio Dontnod, which caused a sensation in 2015 with the series Life is Strange for its credible representation of LGBT+ characters.
“We cannot compete with the very big studios on their territory. We have to find our difference, and that’s how we found it,” explains its manager Oskar Guilbert to AFP, who confesses to having had around ten refusals before seeing the Japanese publisher Square Enix bet on the game.
Native languages and indigenous peoples are also highlighted by the studio, of the game Tell Me Why with the Alaskan Tlingits, Banisherswhere the actor lending his voice to one of the main characters took “a few lessons in Scottish Gaelic to make sure he pronounced [ses] a few sentences correctly.
But this trend is not always welcome, like the controversy surrounding Starfielda very popular game which allows you to choose your gender and associated pronoun when creating your character.
Enough to provoke the anger of certain players, like that of HeelvsBabyface, a British YouTuber with 358,000 subscribers, who went viral in September for his diatribe filled with insults in which he deplored that the publisher Bethesda had inserted “ ideology” in his favorite game.