Probably, if you’ve paid any attention at all to gaming-news this past week, you’ve probably heard about the furor surrounding developer Ubisoft’s E3 announcement about their new Assassin’s Creed: Unity game. One of their creative director’s, Alex Amancio, came out and said that it was just “too much extra work” to create a female playable assassin. Predictably, the internet exploded on his face, the outrage bringing in arguments ranging from historical accuracy (the most famous French Revolution assassin is a woman) to game-design (they could add a lot of other extra features, but women were just too much time and effort).
Really, the most notable bit about this whole thing is how blatant and tone-deaf Ubisoft and it’s representatives were about the controversy. Usually game-companies just don’t bother to explain why there’s no female playable-character option, and expect their customers to accept this state of affairs as de rigeur. Ubisoft should have realized that the culture is changing (slowly and painfully) and blatant sexism is starting to be called out on a more regular basis, even in the “traditionally masculine” world of game design.
Honestly, it’s not so much that in this day and age I expect gender equality to be achieved without thought or effort. We’re not to that default point yet. Maybe some day, but not yet.
But I do expect that people will be thinking about these issues, and putting forth the effort to counteract them. Some people are. Some people are making a point of including some sort of diversity in their artistic endeavors. Maybe not in every single one, but at least in a few. But all too many people are pushing back against this swing toward greater equality (in all realms, from gender to race to sexuality and beyond). Some people push back out of laziness, and others out of fear of change to the status quo. Some people are pushing back out of pure self-interest. After all, the current cultural climate greatly privileges certain folks over certain other folks (you all know who you are, whether you admit it or not).
Some people want to fight back harder against the upholders of the status-quo. I understand the feeling, but that’s not my way. My way of bringing about change is by educating the next generation and outlasting the last one, while making the effort to be as inclusive and open-minded as I can be personally here in the present.
Meanwhile, people who make an active effort to dis-include me and my friends can not only kiss goodbye any hope of earning my dollars, but they can certainly count on my active attempts to prevent anyone I know from spending money on them as well. After all that effort to show how much I am not welcome in their game (or other media) world, they should be delighted to learn I’d rather spend my money (and time) elsewhere.
~Kestrel
I just had to chime in as well, and piggyback on Kestrel’s sentiments.
Situations like this make me think back over the role of women in games–being in them, making them, and playing them–over the course of my life. Women have come a long, long way in all of those areas. When I first played an MMO (Asheron’s Call), back in the ancient and dusty days of dial-up, it was a huge deal to meet a ‘girl’ playing the game. As time went on, more and more showed up–because games are fun! I’ve served under several female guild leaders in my time, and now live in a world where there’s a solid statistical likelihood that I will get my butt kicked in a game by a female gamer pretty much every time I play a game (a spot which used to be reserved for my older brother when I first started playing games). Women play games. They’re here to stay. And thank goodness! When we’ve accepted more complex narratives in games due to well-made female characters, those games have often been praised for breaking new ground in games. Guys, let’s face it–we aren’t really THAT complex and interesting (and I say that with love). There’s only about a dozen core concepts you can get out of a male-dominated game. But put in women–not just as an option, or god-forbid as a ‘women in refrigerator’ plot device, but as a central point to design around–and the concepts that can be explored blow wide open with new possibilities. Put in the effort; learn how to reach this large and growing demographic on their own terms and include them (read: the treatment we’ve enjoyed for so long), and I’m firmly convinced that the benefits will far outweigh the costs.
~James
Roan Arts 