As someone immersed in the gaming industry it is apparent to me that there is a distinct lack of representation of diverse individuals in games and in development of those games. There is also hazy lines when in comes to what is written as rule — don’t gamble if you’re in a state that considers it illegal — and the rules that are present in subtext. The rating of games is not law, and the rules of etiquette and even the laws of the land blur when in the context of the digital world.
To address the first issue; diversity in the gaming industry in both representation of character’s and viability of acting as oneself (revealing one’s identity without fear or repercussion) as well as the diversity of developers of games (digital focus, here) is abysmal. Both PC and console games struggle to keep up with the changing demographic of players — authors Joshua Brustein and Eben Novy-Williams from Bloomberg Business week note that developers are seemingly continuing to try to make games based on themselves, which unfortunately is primarily a group of white males (Brustein et al., 2016). When games do try to take the leap to be more diverse in character choice or NPCs (non-player characters) developers seem to fall into the pattern of using stereotypes that not only misrepresent those they are trying to ‘include,’ but also invalidate them and isolate them.
Another article notes that it isn’t necessarily important that advertisements or brief characters are what they seem to be — Shira Chess and her colleagues write in “What Does a Video Gamer Look Like? Video Games, Advertising, and Diversity” that because commercials and brief encounters last so small of a time frame the actual details of that actor/actress/character is fairly irrelevant; it instead comes down to perception (Chess et al., 2016). And this may be the case for the gaming industry, too. Or at least what developers and marketers think; if a demographically diverse community thinks that a game will be inclusive or representative and thinking that, even briefly, appeals to them and causes them to buy the game then the company has made a profit. This thinking gets a little shaky when Let’s Players and other walk through-based content creators step into the mix on platforms like YouTube and Twitch; audiences can get a much fuller, live-action picture of a game before ever picking it up off a shelf or submitting a purchase on Steam.
The assumption of what a video gamer looks like isn’t necessarily hurting the industry, though. Females have risen to nearly 50% of gamers (Chess et al.), but they haven't gotten that interested because they have seen strong female characters, at least not this rapidly. The industry has only just started to see female leads and a diversity in ethnic “casting” in games in the recent years, but it is no where near the same level as the representation of white males. As a female gamer, I can personally say the draw to the gaming industry centers mostly on games that either allow character customization to whatever degree I want (Sims 3/4, Skyrim, etc) or that do something interesting with characters you might not normally see (what? a female character can be strong, independent, and not have her arc crash haphazardly with a male character’s arc, leading them to bang or get hitched? Whoa).
The other side of this issue is the representation of age in the era of digital communication and the ease of which one can mask their identity. In the article in Bloomberg, Brustein and Novy-Williams discuss how prevalent underage gambling is with online to real-life currency, such as the market in Counter Strike: Global Offensive (Brustein et al.). They more thoroughly discuss the role a major company like Valve, creators of CS:Go and the online PC game marketplace Steam, can play in promoting this kind of behavior in geographical locations that not only find underage gambling illegal, but sports gambling in general (Brustein et al.). This is an e-sport, though, which is what makes the lines all that more blurred and keeps the attention pretty far removed from an substantial politicians who could sat something about it (Brustein et al.). Not only that, but underage children are at times losing ridiculous amounts of money by using sites validated by Valve for the sale of game skins for real currency or betting on live matches- and this money loss can hit home for parents when purchases show up as Steam account charges associated with a parent’s card (Brustein et al.).
The takeaway for these articles is essentially more representation and regulation should be considered and implemented within the gaming industry to not only generate more revenue (attracting more demographically diverse people to the industry and please those already present), but also to protect minors and other at-risk individuals from addictions, exploitation, and severe money loss.
References
Brustein, J., & Novy-Williams, E. (2016, April 19). Virtual Weapons Are Turning Teen Gamers Into Serious Gamblers. Retrieved December 06, 2017, from https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-virtual-guns-counterstrike-gambling/
Chess_What does a gamer look like.pdf. (n.d.). Retrieved December 06, 2017, from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4ImnoswzjW0NjM3emZMS09kaEU/view
