2023-12-09 18:16:00
Transgender heroes, afros and indigenous peoples: studios are switching to more inclusive video games.
Under pressure from players, who are more demanding of “representativeness” in the characters and the plots, and the impetus of a new generation of creators sensitive to these issues, video games are changing.
The most telling example: the introduction in the highly anticipated GTA VI of Lucia, the first playable female main character in the history of “Grand Theft Auto”, while the sulphurous 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” the need for representation “more thoughtful” female characters, Ashley Reed, head of narration for Apex Legends, published by the American studio Electronic Arts, told AFP.
If there is a “real questioning” major studios since these affairs, “the trigger comes mainly from the players”explains to AFP Jennifer Lufau, consultant on inclusion in video games and founder of Afrogameuses, an association advocating for better representation of black women in the video game industry.
“It’s because there is a real demand for representativeness in the content they consume, even more so with the rise of social networks”let them study “realize that there is diversity” among gamers, beyond the stereotype of “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 once morest the absence of Afro hairstyles in the options available.
“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, following the Japanese publisher’s update.
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 “talents” from diversity and/or more sensitive backgrounds. to these questions.
Like the literary world, they also increasingly call on specialized consultants, “sensitivity readers”.
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 offering will be perceived and how they can avoid falling into certain traps that will create stereotypes”underlines Jennifer Lufau.
Cutting-edge independent studios
Aware that video games are a medium “powerful” to pass “inclusive and progressive messages”independent studios remain the first to have put these themes in the spotlight, such as the French studio Dontnod, which caused a sensation in 2015 with the series Life is Strange for its credible representation of LGBT+ characters.
“We can’t 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, from the game Tell Me Why with the Alaskan Tlingits, to Banishers, where the actor lending his voice to one of the main characters took “a few lessons in Scot Gaelic to make sure he pronounces (his) few sentences correctly”.
But this trend is not always welcome, like the controversy surrounding Starfield, a 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 deplores that the publisher Bethesda has inserted “ideology” in his favorite game.
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