The global community is trying to leave behind its conservatism, and it is trying really hard to become more open and more understanding of the orientations, the beliefs, and the lifestyle choices of every individual. The same applies to the gaming industry as it plays a very big role in today’s society, and just like every other industry, it is trying to widen its horizons and to adapt to a future that is free from stereotypes, free from discrimination, and free from exclusions, in order to make every individual feel welcome in the digital gaming world. The path to a fully open-minded future is going to be long and tough, but the steps taken seem to be in the right direction.
Can Every Game Adapt to Today’s Diversity Standards?
Becoming more diverse cannot happen overnight and truth be told, things do not have to change across the board. There are online games like The Mummy Book of Amun Ra, which are fine just the way they are, but then there are also games such as the original Donkey Kong, where machismo is taken to a whole new level. This timeless classic was one of the biggest evolutionary steps for gaming in 1981, but in 2022, it would probably receive negative reviews from critics and gamers as it portrays a helpless princess who has been abducted by a gorilla and who is waiting for the fearless plumber Mario to come and rescue her. Forty years ago, this concept would be more than acceptable, and in all honesty Donkey Kong’s gameplay does not offend anybody, but in times during which society is fighting for equality, stereotypes such as this can only make people feel like something is not right.
In 2022 Things Are Being Done Right
Modern gaming is all about diversity. The protagonists of action games are no longer muscular men holding gigantic firearms and enormous swords. Titles such as Horizon Forbidden West, which stars a female character, sell more than games such as God of War, where the main character is a man. The same applies to Life is Strange, to the upcoming Forspoken, to Control and to AC Valhalla. All of the above games have strong female leads and apart from that, they also come with a lot of open-mindedness when it comes to the issues, which the LGBTQ community has been trying to address for decades.
Speaking of Open-mindedness
Certain games and certain developers have always been more open-minded when it comes to gender equality and diversity. For example, the team that worked on the original Final Fantasy 7 did not wait until 2020 in order to address the issue of modern sensibilities. The original version back in 1997 was already addressing certain things from a more gender-equal perspective and this approach was brilliantly adapted to the 9th generation Remake version of the game. Square Enix is no stranger to addressing gender equality of course, but seeing that it was already addressing the matter back in the nineties is something worth mentioning.
Apart from Square Enix, there is another studio that always took gender-equality issues under consideration. This is no other than Kojima Productions, which has always tried to release games, which featured characters with many different backgrounds and orientations. From Metal Gear to Death Stranding, Hideo Kojima has always tried to take an “all-inclusive” approach when it comes to creating characters who would feel familiar to every player.
