We analyze the current situation in the videogame industry in terms of representation and inclusion of various groups and identities.
On planet Earth we inhabit some 7550 million people. A very high number that is distributed in the different habitable zones of the planet and in which we find a wide diversity of genders, ethnic groups, cultures and others. However, for many years, cultural media such as film, literature and videogames have shown a very different reality in which it seemed that the world revolved around the straight white man, the main protagonist of all these arts.
Star of Tell Me Why (Dontnod Entertainment)
It may have been that way for a long time, but fortunately we see a wider range of sights and this change in society is also reflected in video games. Examples such as the recently presented Tell Me Why (Dontnod Entertainment), whose protagonist is a trans boy, or works such as The Red Strings Club (Deconstructeam), Neo Cab (Change Agency) and even the highly anticipated The Last of Us Part 2 (Naughty Dog ), show characters with sexual identities or orientations that expand the spectrum of representation and inclusion of various groups.
In this report we will review those works and characters that most help in the mission of making the world a place where everyone feels represented. In addition, we have interviews with professionals from the sector such as Jordi de Paco (design, narrative and script in Deconstructeam) and Ramón Méndez (translator, teacher and writer) as long as they show us their point of view from the other side of the screen.
Gender diversity, the first barrier
"If women" stripped "themselves of claiming equality with men, they would become the most hateful, pagan and disgusting beings, and would surely perish without male protection," remarked Queen Victoria of England in 1870.
Many years after social struggles for equality between men and women, technology would be developed to the point where video games could be born, another cultural medium. Because it was initially considered a leisure activity for men, the female characters that appeared were mostly princesses who had to be saved or women with a sexualized appearance. Of course, as the years went by, we saw new characters appear as Samus Aran (Metroid, 1986), Chun-Li (Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, 1991) or the mythical Lara Croft (Tomb Raider, 1996), that both players and players liked, which began to feel something represented in a leisure activity that was also theirs.
However, it has not been until more recent times when female protagonists have had a greater weight in the industry and a more faithful and realistic representation. "Heroines on and off the screen" is a report dedicated to this topic that we did a while ago and will help you to know more about the importance of having professional women in all the links of the industry value chain.
Examples such as Emily Kaldwin (Dishonored 2, 2016), Kait Díaz (Gears 5, 2019), Ellie (The Last of Us 2, 2020) or Aloy (Guerrilla Games, 2017), among others, have gained more prominence in their respective sagas or appeared out of nowhere to add some weight to a scale that for a long time was more inclined to one side.
Even so, it should be noted that there are only two dishes on this scale, since there are not only two genres (although historically so it was classified). There is an intermediate spectrum called the non-binary genus. The term designates those people who identify with both male and female aspects, so they cannot simply be typecast in Male / Female. As you can imagine, there are not a large number of non-binary characters in video games, but we can mention a few that have emerged in recent years:
- Vivec (The Elder Scrolls, 2012)
- Elden (The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, 2014)
- Frisk, Chara, Napstablook and Monster Kid (Undertale, 2015)
- Blanche (Pokémon Go, 2016)
- The Knight (Hollow Knight, 2017)
- Fl4k (Borderlands 3, 2019)
- Bloodhound (Apex Legends, 2019)
- Blue (Neo Cab, 2019)
Blanche (Pokémon GO)
On the other hand, trans representation is still a pending task in video games, but as with the non-binary gender identity, little by little you can see more trans characters in various works. An example of this is the aforementioned Tell Me Why by Dontnod Entertainment (it will arrive in summer 2020 in 3-episode format), whose protagonists are a pair of twin brothers in which one of them is trans. Another more national example is The Red Strings Club (Deconstructeam), in which we meet the interesting Larissa:
“Larissa's character was not planned. Paula, our composer, came out of the closet and transitioned during the development of the game. This is something that logically impacted remarkably in our lives, and we wanted to capture it in the narrative of The Red Strings Club, which after all was a lot about identity and happiness, ”Jordi de Paco tells us.
Jordi takes care of the narrative in the game and assures us that the diversity in The Red Strings Club is not designed, but rather is a representation of the people around him: “This game talks about very personal issues for us, and the characters emerged as a reflection of our diverse and multicultural environment. ”
Larissa (left), trans character in The Red Strings Club
Reflect and continue: “With our previous game, Gods Will Be Watching, unconsciously he had replicated the topics of many action and science fiction movies that he had devoured to date, and a cast that was basically white men came out, with a friend black and a woman who was a voice of conscience among the hard types. Although I don't think they are offensive in themselves, I think they carry an implicit problem. ”
"I'm glad I started to become more aware that representation matters, and that there are already too many white cishetero protagonists."
Of course, there are a lot of titles in which the creation of the character is in the hands of the players themselves and there the options available multiply. From The Sims (which we will talk about later) to role titles such as the Fallout saga, Dragon Age, The Elder Scrolls and even Pokémon, we have had the decision to design our or our protagonist to our liking (with certain limitations). However, on many occasions we saw how, when choosing a female protagonist, in the dialogues we were still treated as male characters. Hence the importance of language and adapting it to each work and character.
The importance of inclusive language
The decision to present an inclusive language that distinguishes between genres in video games is, more than anything, in the hands of developers. Because the largest number of works we consume come from international fields, the version that comes to us is a translated and localized, so we are interested in knowing the information directly from one of the renowned translators of our country. Ramón Méndez, known for having participated in the translation of hundreds of video games (such as Skyrim, The Witcher 3, Until Dawn or Watch Dogs 2, among others) tells us about his experience translating Neo Cab, an indie work in which we find a language inclusive and, as we have advanced previously, a non-binary character (Blue).
“As is the case in most projects, there are a number of marked margins and, within them, we have a lot of freedom. These margins, except in extreme cases, are not immovable either and there are cases in which you can reason with the client why something is necessary in other languages. In the specific case of Neo Cab, we had a lot of basic freedom and we could even modify the graphics of the agenda and the logos of the companies, which is an unusual luxury ”.
Blue (left), non-binary character of Neo Cab. The second dialogue option shows inclusive language
This aspect is called localization and refers to when the adaptation to the norms of other countries goes beyond a simple translation and is extended to more sectors such as graphic identity, music, cultural field, etc. It is the case of Pokémon, for example, in which we find small jokes and expressions that only a Spanish could understand, in addition to the names of the characters and others.
Returning to Neo Cab and the character of Azul in particular, Ramón details how the inclusive language was something that the developer herself proposed in the English version: “The character of Azul had very determined characteristics that gave no room for doubt and the client I wanted to keep that spirit in all languages, so it was one of the issues we first discussed in the team in order to lay the foundations that could be repeated throughout the game. ”
In a more personal tone, he explains to us how within the team they had a debate about inclusive language and how to use it, especially at a merely grammatical level, since there are no established norms to hold on to and the SAR has just recently rejected, for umpteenth time, inclusive formulas.
“This does not mean that you can not cheat and, in cases like Neo Cab, we are facing a futuristic game in which there is room for language to have evolved according to the needs of society. We are also working right now with another game that will also use inclusive language for non-binary players who choose that option in character creation. ”
"However, only language is not enough, representation has to be offered at more levels (as in this case, in the creation of the character itself or in the inclusion of diverse characters)."
Beyond heterosexuality
We have treated gender identities and now it is time to embark on the exploration of "romantic interests" that go beyond the heterosexual norm that predominates in most of the stories. There is no doubt that relationships such as Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher (Uncharted saga) can all be enjoyed once we are in command, but it is appreciated to see that there are other titles that cover a wider range.
The beginning of all this could be considered in The Sims. In an interview with The New Yorker, Patrick J. Barrett III, programmer of the first game of The Sims, said that relations and marriages between characters of the same sex were implemented in the game by mere accident. Even so, what made the difference was the decision to leave them in the game instead of eliminating them, something that guaranteed them a successful presentation and that attracted a lot of attention in the E3 of 1999.
“It was a different time; people didn't position themselves so violently for or against gay relationships, ”Barrett reflects in the interview. ”There was no Twitter, no Facebook, no blogs. I expected people to come at night with gallows and torches. But it never happened. "
Years later, in the XXI century, we find gallows and virtual torches every time a study shows the courage needed to take the step and openly show their homosexual characters. It was the case of Tracer (Overwatch), when Blizzard presented the Christmas comic in which he was seen with his girlfriend. A significant number of intolerant users came to ask for the reimbursement of the game once the orientation of what we could consider the main character of the Blizzard shooter was announced. Something similar happened when Soldier 76 was confirmed as a member of the LGTBI + community. The use of the character in the game declined after part of his lore was announced.
In the case of Ellie (The Last of Us) and the passionate kiss that occurred with Dina in the trailer of The Last of Us 2 (E3 2018) confirming once again that she prefers women (something we already saw with Riley in the first game DLC: Left Behind), many came up to say that "it was not necessary", "is forced", "does not contribute anything" and other comments on the same line. And of course it is necessary, and much more so, in order to gradually blur the idea that heterosexuality is assumed by default and the way to show homosexual relationships (especially in the case of two women) is not To be a sexual fantasy for men.
Examples in which things are done well and that we all know are Chloe and Max (or Rachel) from Life is Strange 1 and Before the Storm. The good know-how of Dontnod Entertainment can be seen in the construction of its realistic characters and is something that extends to the second part of the game. The director of the game, Jean-Luc Cano, assured us in a recent interview the importance of the correct representation of various groups for the study:
“It is very important for us to bring these people to light. In the game we find characters with an open mind and specifically the gay couple we see in this episode (Chapter 5 of Life is Strange 2) was there from the beginning of the project. We believe it is important that they be represented in video games in order to help reduce the intolerance that some people still demonstrate. ”
Another recent example is Parvati, from The Outer Worlds. In addition to being a lesbian, she is openly asexual and what is most surprising is how well the subject gets along and how natural the conversations with her are. We have several missions dedicated to her that allow us to better explore her character arc and that demonstrate how well Obsidian Entertainment is given to elaborate great narratives:
“There are women in positions of power. There are people of color who do all kinds of jobs. There are queer people in every corner and class of the world. And that's why I want the world of the future to reflect the world of now. And that means reflecting our current reality, ”says Kate Dollarhyde, narrative designer at Obsidian (to Polygon).
Parvati (The Outer Worlds) in his character mission
Of course, there are more LBTBI + characters in video games such as Athena, Summers and Tina from the Borderlands saga, most of the cast of the Dragon Age and Mass Effect saga and more. Even so, most of them remain secondary characters or whose orientation is in the hands of the player, in the sense that if we do not decide to establish a homosexual romance with them we will not see that version of them or them. There is still a long way to go, but the examples we have seen represent a ray of hope in which until recently it was a very dark tunnel.
Ethnicities; we are not all caucasian
Another aspect that has been underrepresented throughout the history of video games has been ethnicities beyond Caucasian. Most of the protagonists in video games have been and are Caucasian men and until recent times it was unthinkable that a game was starring African, Hindu, Asian, Arab, Persian and other ethnic characters. Of these, for starters, we have examples such as the Prince of Persia saga, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad (Assassin's Creed) and Zoë, protagonist of Dreamfall: The Longest Journey and Dreamfall Chapters.
We all remember Carl “CJ” Johnson, the African-American protagonist of GTA San Andreas, whom the vast majority of the players accepted with open arms. Other African-American protagonists are Marcus Holloway from Watch Dogs 2, Lincoln from Mafia 3, Aveline De Grandpre from Assassin's Creed Liberation, Billie Lurk from Dishonored: Dead of the Outsider or Jade from Beyond Good & Evil. If we compare them to the number of white protagonists, there is a clear imbalance, but it is encouraging to see that the appearance and prominence of characters that go beyond the norm are becoming more and more normal.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is another good example of representation, since its two protagonists are Chloe Frazer (treasure hunter from India or Australia, where she was living with her mother) and Nadine Ross (South African mercenary). Two women whose strength nobody would dare to discuss that they embark on a great adventure that separates them somewhat from the main line of the Uncharted saga, where Nathan Drake is always the protagonist.
As for other ethnicities, it is even more unusual to see leading Asian characters. Some examples are the recent Shenmue 3 with Ryo Hazuki, Kazuma Kiryu (Yakuza) and Faith from Mirror’s Edge among others. On the other hand, we have titles such as the aforementioned Overwatch in which there is a wide range of characters that cover various ethnicities from around the world (regardless of the controversial business-level decisions that have recently emerged) or fight titles such as Tekken saga (although in this one the representation usually falls in clichés, sexualizations and others).
For all this, we see how there are some examples but in the vast majority of occasions they continue to focus on leaving African-American characters in the background, as friends of the Caucasian protagonist. This struggle to bring us closer to an idyllic equality is also still open.
The importance of indie titles in representation; For a more plural future
For all that we have seen, you will have been able to see how the big companies that produce Triple A games take small steps towards the representation and inclusion of various groups, while in the case of indies studies and games, this freedom seems much greater . Examples of this, in addition to those mentioned, are graphic novels such as We know the Devil (from Date Nighto) or Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator (from Game Grumps), where we find a representation that shows the world with a much greater freedom .
There are several reasons why this happens and Jordi de Paco tells us some of them from his professional perspective:
“Indies games make them less people and therefore are inevitably more intimate. The rise of the indie video game is the rise of many identities, and these games capture the realities of their developers, either implicitly or explicitly. On the other hand, the triple A industry is also made up of many workers with a plurality of backgrounds, but these people are subject to the direction of white cishetero men who in turn are subject to the management of a corporation, which in turn are subject to the videogame market, whose demography is still represented by the white-haired teen gamer, ”Jordi de Paco tells us.
Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
On the other hand, Ramón Méndez also shows us his opinion based on this:
“In general, indies have fewer ties. This is something that is also seen at the level of plots and approaches, where it risks more and we find much more intimate works. The key here is to gradually break the stereotypes and normalize situations so as not to find things as absurd as people complaining about Sarah Connor in Terminator, that "Hulka or other embarrassing chapters that we have as a society" are taken out of our sleeve " . If the indies are making their way, then it is easier to begin to see a reflection in larger productions. ”
In order to break these stereotypes and to normalize situations, as Ramón mentions, there are two main fronts of action that Jordi proposes and we are already undertaking among all (both developers and players and press). The first is that the triple industry A dares with more games like The Last of Us 2, which puts a lesbian woman as a very strong protagonist on the map. The other is in the hands of the press, whose speeches can crucially affect the perception of these changes.
Although the road to travel is still long, we know that we are moving in the right direction and we are hopeful about a future (hopefully close) in which we can turn on the console or PC and find a wide catalog of games with good representation of various groups to choose from. Because we all want to feel represented and we want to get excited when playing with characters that look like us. And because the field of video games can greatly help that change that will eventually occur throughout society. Little by little, but without pause.
Personal sources:
- Jordi de Paco: design, narrative and script in Deconstructeam
- Ramón Méndez: translator, teacher and writer
Documentary sources (which are not already mentioned in the text):
- How many people are in the world? (Knowing is practical)
- Suffragists: the struggle for the female vote (National Geographic)
- Non-binary gender (Verne)
- List of non-binary fictional characters (Wikipedia)
- Race concept (El País)
