Following last week I have narrowed down my research topic and goals. The question I am asking is twofold:
How do people choose who to play in games and are they able to choose freely?
I’m asking this question because I have a personal hypothesis and belief that there are not enough options for play as (non-sexualised) female and non-white characters in games. I have a personal interest in psychology and sociology and upon researching further I have found numerous psychological studies examining how players choose to represent themselves in games. I would also like to discuss the (lack of) availability of lgbtq+ representation, but with the limited word count, I am going to focus on race and gender equality.
I think this topic could have greater world applications, as evidence that there is a market for particular character designs could guide game companies with their choices, while wider representation may make games more marketable to a larger audience. Not only this but representation is a growing topic in wider social discussions, and as an aspiring game developer and animator, I want to create socially responsible works and contribute to a more racially/gender-equal society. I’m inspired by some games I have played in my own life:
- Harvest Moon- has been criticised for creating separate copies of games based on gender- Harvest Moon DS/ Harvest Moon DS: Cute
- Genshin Impact- High criticism for a lack of POC playable characters, with only three of dozens of characters being visibly non-white, despite having world regions based on northern Africa
- The Sims 4- A life simulation game that has historically been criticised for a lack of representation of skin tones and low-quality applications of ethnic hair textures, but has improved on its availability of representation
- World of Warcraft- Criticised for a lack of diversity options as well as criticised for sexist “dimorphic” character designs, with sexualised female characters