A guide on how to improve diversity in gaming

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 11/09/2024

Close to 50% of gamers worldwide are women but the business is dominated by men! More than three billion people worldwide play digital games and 46% of them are women. Despite this diverse community of gamers, their reflection on screen is significantly lacking, US-based Geena Davis Institute on gender in media says. The institute has now published The GDI Playbook with ideas on how to get a better gender balance in gaming business.

Out of the total online population, 72% of women play video games. Women and men who play games consider diversity in games important, with 65% of men and 62% of women agreeing, video game data company Newzoo has reported.

The GDI Playbook is divided into five topics, called “Keys,” to help game creators craft engaging and meaningful games. Each key includes tips for prioritising inclusivity including how to craft diverse stories and characters.

Only about 30% of game-developers globally are women but close to 50% of gamers are women, the institute points out in a report arguing for better diversity in the gaming business. 

“Improving representation in video games will require a shift within the development side of the gaming industry to facilitate more diverse teams.” 

“Scarce and sexualised representation of women in games may stem from women’s underrepresentation among game developers. Similarly, racialised characters that reinforce harmful tropes, or culturally inauthenticity or insensitive characters may stem from the underrepresentation of people of colour among game developers.” 

Key findings from the report:

• Women make up just under half of gamers across global markets (46% of American gamers, 47% of European gamers, 48% of Australian gamers, and 37% of Asian gamers).
• Over 70% of respondents agree it is extremely important or very important that games feature diverse characters (70%) and stories (73%).
• Women and nonbinary people, people of colour, and disabled people are often underrepresented in popular video games.
• Women are hypersexualised in video games (25% shown in revealing clothing and 12% shown in some state of nudity), and much more so than men (2% shown in revealing clothing and 3% shown in some state of nudity).

The Institute says the insights shine light on opportunities for game developers and designers to broaden representation and diversify the portrayals of marginalised communities in video games. 

“For creatives, these opportunities will help prevent the reproduction of real-world cultural stereotypes when creating new fictionalised cultures.”

The Institute’s list of actions:

1. Diversify across Character Types: Broadening representation in video games necessitates conscious choices about all character types.
2. Create Multidimensional Characters: Character dimensions like their voices and personalities are an opportunity to create dynamic characters that represent marginalised communities
3. Recognise How Characters’ Identities Intersect with World-Building: A harmonious blend of character identity and world-building will elevate a game’s storytelling potential but also enhance its capacity to explore complex themes, cultural nuances, and social commentary, thereby transforming video games into powerful mediums for both entertainment and introspection. Not only do players want to see themselves in the games they play, but also they look to play games that reflect cultural competency.
4. Incorporate Gameplay Mechanics That Actively Challenge Rigid Masculinity: For example, games can reward players for engaging in cooperative, nonviolent interactions. If your game needs conflict to engage players or progress the plot, think about the actual skills required to navigate conflict. 
5. Incorporate Gameplay Mechanics That Actively Challenge Identity-Based Stereotypes: For example, instead of all scientific exposition coming from a wise old man, flip that stereotype on its head by picking a field dominated by white men but representing it with a Black woman
6. Eliminate Sexualised Violence: Past research suggests that sexual objectification of female characters in games (and exaggerated hypermasculine representations of male characters) can influence players’ beliefs about gender and power.
7. Broaden Characters’ Body Types to Tell New Stories: Ditch predictable tropes like overly sexualised female characters, and embrace a diversity of body types in character design to enrich gameplay experiences and create deeper connections for players. Existing studies find video games with avatar creation allow female characters less body-type diversity. Consider the unique stories that different body types can tell, pair unexpected body types and personality traits, and consider the aesthetics of body-size diversity.
8. Hire Balanced Developer Teams: Employee Resource Groups, mentoring programs, and STEM funding initiatives that provide a direct pipeline into a more diverse development team, but a lasting shift requires a systemic culture change. An industry-wide commitment to the prioritisation of inclusive design and culture is the path toward levelling up to become a space that truly welcomes all players.

The Newzoo report about some positive developments: More games are featuring women in leading roles and on top of these titles, there has been an increasing trend in sports games to better represent female athletes. 

“Games from the NBA 2K, NHL, and EA Sports FC franchises have introduced female leagues and clubs, with more cover art featuring female players. Sports Interactive also confirmed that women’s football/soccer will be added to Football Manager 2025.”

“As of last year, only 18% of female-identifying players play sports titles, whereas it’s the fourth most played genre among male gamers. The share of women playing sports titles rises a bit when you look at playing behaviours on certain or several devices, but including more women athletes in sports games may help increase this share.”