Is Diversity and Inclusion Essential to Making a Good Video Game?
Diversity and inclusion are two subjects that have gained massive popularity over the past decade. Video games in particular have taken a shift in how they portray minorities, as well as diversifying how real-life men can look and behave within those games. As we progress further into the 21st century, it is incredibly important for video games to continue their progress with diversity and inclusion. By representing people and their cultures wholeheartedly, in addition to maintaining diverse writer rooms, video games can continue to sustain an environment where everyone is represented equally and effectively, even if there is a small minority of people outraging against inclusion.
Immersive and positively addicting, video games create an environment where anyone can enjoy a plethora of different worlds at their fingertips. With more than “3.2 billion people worldwide” playing video games and the “global gaming market [being] expected to reach $256.97 billion by 2025” (Tech Jury), video games continue to appeal to a large, diverse audience with great success. Recently, Baldur’s Gate 3 (BG3) has taken the gaming industry by storm with its incredibly in-depth story spanning three acts, a diverse cast of characters, and a very well-designed character creator, which enables the gamer to create a character that can resemble whatever experience they may wish to have. Want a show-stoppingly gorgeous elven rogue? Of course! How about an Orc with pink space buns? Why not! These are but a few of the options you can create utilizing this character creator. As video games continue to reach wider audiences, the need for diverse characters is essential. A character creator, while amazing, is not enough to sustain a well-rounded and varied cast of characters. Baldur’s Gate 3 does this by creating incredibly strong female characters and deeply flawed male characters that allow the story to flourish in the world of BG3.
As you traverse throughout the world of BG3, you are first introduced to Lae’Zel, a woman from another race of people known as the Githyanki. The Githyanki roam the astral plane (space) hunting another species of beings known as Mindflayers. Throughout the story, Lae’Zel is a brutish, strong, and incredibly ferocious character who has no mercy for the weak—a character trope that is incredibly rare for women. Lae’Zel is spared from sexualisation, instead being represented through her strength and unwavering faith in her god. This is but one example of the powerful and complex female characters within BG3 that are more than just sexualized bodies for the consumption of male gamers. In terms of diverse male characters, early on in the story you meet Wyll, a human man who has a kind-hearted and helping nature. Within only a few nights of meeting him, a demon shows up at your camp claiming that she is Wyll’s infernal patron, who Wyll sold his soul to for unknown reasons. What is most interesting about Wyll is that he is a Black man yet his race does not inhibit him in any way in the world around him. That is to say, he is judged for selling his soul to a demon, not the color of his skin. This is critical, as it appeals to people of color to be able to exist in a world where you are not judged by your skin color, but rather your actions. By appealing to so many diverse groups of people, BG3 is able to allow everyone to experience a fantasy where they can be who they are in whatever capacity that may be. However, diversity and inclusion within a video game are still only one part of the equation; having said diversity represent the writers within the studio is what allows these games to not only have diverse characters but ones that are complex.
Baldur's Gate 3 is one of the few games out there that had more women on the writers team than men. The split was eight women to seven men, and by having such a varied group of people within that room, you are able to create characters like Lae’Zel, who is more than just a sexy silhouette. This goes deeper than just character development. Certain regions can represent different places on Earth, and as such, having a heterogeneous group of people writing those stories and creating those worlds, you can get a more in-depth and concrete understanding of each culture individually.
While the benefits of diversity and inclusion are bountiful, backlash against D&I is heavily prevalent, as many gamers—“mostly men, who prefer it remain exclusive” (Rolling Stone)—dislike the inclusion of equality. Many believe that these spaces are being invaded and thus paint all diversity as forced and unneeded. Not only are these ideals based in white supremacy, but they have little justification or merit as to what makes these video games “good”. A recent AAA video game known as The Last of Us Part II faced relentless criticism for the main antagonist Abby, a woman surviving in a world full of human-eating monsters who has a muscular physique, and turned her character into a transphobic meme. This hateful rhetoric is problematic and is a symptom of a larger issue. Diversity and inclusion are tools that can help mitigate these bigoted mentalities, given that “playing digital games… have shown benefits in [formulating] learning strategies, understanding history, scientific reasoning and civic engagement” (JSTOR). Essentially, video games have been proven to help strengthen learning skills and critical thinking skills—tools that can be used alongside diversity in gaming to create a healthier environment for all who wish to play video games. These tools are becoming critical to prevent situations such as Gamergate.
From late 2014 and throughout 2015, the topic of Gamergate dominated social media as well as the video game industry, “attracting attention from the international press and civil society” (RDF). In order to foster an environment where anyone and everyone can enjoy video games, we need to create games that encourage diversity and inclusion as well as encouraging gamers to think and process not only what they are playing but who it affects.
Within Baldur’s Gate 3, the benefits of diversity and inclusion are exemplified and truly highlight how D&I can be beneficial for minority groups alongside the more “traditional” gamers who may be hesitant to accept newcomers to the video game community. BG3 is but one example of how D&I can be used alongside an enjoyable gaming experience to encourage understanding of different cultures and people, which not only creates a wonderful video game but also betters the world around us to be more inclusive for everyone, no matter their background.
Works Cited
“How Much Is the Gaming Industry Worth in 2024?” Techjury, techjury.net/blog/gaming-industry-worth/. Accessed 21 Apr. 2024.
Favis, E. (2023, January 26). They fought for diversity in gaming. then the abuse began. Rolling Stone. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/video-game-diversity-winning-abuse-1234662368/
Richard, Gabriela T. “Video Games, Gender, Diversity, and Learning as Cultural Practice: Implications for Equitable Learning and Computing Participation Through Games.” Educational Technology, vol. 57, no. 2, 2017, pp. 36–43. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44430522. Accessed 7 May 2024.
Salter, M. (2017). From geek masculinity to Gamergate: The technological rationality of online abuse. Crime, Media, Culture: An International Journal, 14(2), 247–264. https://doi.org/10.1177/1741659017690893
Cover Photo by Alena Darmel.