"Play is an integral part of human evolution and learning," she says, mentioning that this is a topic she covers in her book. "Gaming, being the most refined form of play in our time, has much to offer. Instead of focusing on what gaming is not, it's more effective to showcase its true essence. The industry's effort to create a more diverse range of games, beyond merely violent and intense ones, will help showcase the broad spectrum of gaming as an expression of creativity."

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[–] Aielman15 44 points 5 months ago (35 children)

I feel the problem is not the industry but the fanbase. As of the last few years, it's become pretty common to see videogames become target of hatred for "going woke": H:FW's Aloy's "peach fuzz", TLOU2's Abby being too masculine, women not living to the average beauty standard, LGBT characters "shoved down people's throats", character editors decoupling gender and sex or using gender-neutral language, narrative being cringe because it targets millennials (as if older games didn't target young audiences, too)... The industry is going forward, but I don't think the fanbase is ready yet.

Sometimes I think the fanbase is regressing, even. I've seen people lamenting increased "politics" in their videogame, yet saying that MGS or FFVII or Bioshock are their favourite games. Gamers don't even pay attention to what they consume, they merely parrot whatever their favourite influencer says. "Woke" is a meaningless term that gets thrown around whenever they don't like something.

[–] [email protected] 59 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Fan base isn't regressing - there's just an increasingly polarized contingent that won't stop wailing about every snub.

Overall the gaming fan base is growing because of this embracing of diversity.

[–] NOT_RICK 31 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yeah it’s just a loud group of dipshits that want games to be a safe space for their regressive views.

[–] Renacles 13 points 5 months ago

They can't go 3 words without saying "woke".

Wokewokewokewokewoke...

[–] billiam0202 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

The Helldivers 2 Steam ~~review page~~ (edit: it's comments on announcements) is covered with reviews from accounts that don't even own the game begging Arrowhead to "not add WOKENESS!" to the game.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

What review page are you talking about??

I went to check out the reviews and all I see is people complaining about Sony blocking out so many countries. I don't see a single "woke" complaint.

Are you sure you're not just hearing that people have complained and then assuming they actually did?

[–] billiam0202 5 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (5 children)

Sorry, you're correct- it's not the reviews, but the comments on any announcement made by the devs that I was remembering.

The lack of mouse icon next to their names means those Steam accounts don't own the game.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I wonder how many of them are just bots tbh

Cause the game is pretty inherently political. The setting is a farcical fascist govt...

[–] billiam0202 7 points 5 months ago (1 children)

It's a coordinated effort to make those bigoted assholes seem to be a larger number than they actually are. And we can blame Steve Bannon for that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Also everyone who participates in the narrative that “regressive are swamping the gaming industry”.

[–] Carighan 3 points 4 months ago

I mean on the plusside, you always know that whenever anybody uses the word "woke" as if it were a real word, you can immediately add them to the blocklist or ban them. Nothing they can add has any value any more.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (2 children)

How they can review a game without own it on steam?

[–] billiam0202 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I edited my comment, but I was wrong in that it's not the review page that gets swarmed but the comments on announcements that Arrowhead makes. Anyone can comment on an announcement (which makes sense, if [for example] it's about an upcoming feature that isn't out yet.)

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

I see, steam community foruns.

It's better to not go into these, full of fanboys, haters and stupid people farming fake points.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

I'm guessing they buy, review, refund? Not sure if that also removes the review as I almost never refund or review games.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago

Ding ding ding

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I feel like that's just a very loud minority among those who play games. As you've so stated, the majority of people who play these games either do not care for politics in video games, and another subset prefer it that way.

If even the greediest of companies in the video game industry keep doing that, that means they've analyzed the market and having politics in video games might have between no to a positive impact on sales.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

I heavily agree with this. If there's one thing I've learned about video games and gamers, it's that people who are happy with their games, are playing their games! The people who aren't happy, are going to Reddit and the forums to bitch and moan. The anti-"woke" crowd is fueled by outrage. And that's all it is: senseless outrage. There's no substance to it. Let them scream into the void until they tire themselves out.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago

That hatred comes from like 0.1% of gamers, if that.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago

No, the fanbase is regressing, but they're also not getting products that suit their tastes. There's a lot of stuff to play that's different, and the people that removed go back to the dwindingly bad quality AAA Live Service slop. They're not for us. When the AAA bubble bursts, they'll fuck off to another form of media.

[–] cmhe 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Sure, it is largely the fanbase, however I also think that the game industry seems to sometimes do somewhat of a "woke-washing", meaning opically supporting the LGBTQIA movement because of financial, shitstorm-prevention or other reasons than just wanting to create more diverse and inclusive games.

For instance I like Hogwarts Legacy, but it also takes place in the Victorian era, and it seems to project the modern tolerant society ideals onto the wizarding world of that time.

Depicting the society as inclusive and diverse is somewhat history revisionist. If you play as a non-binary or trans person at that time, then you should have to deal with prejudice and marginalization, otherwise it is just "woke-wash" the history.

So, IMO there are some cases, especially in historic (fantasy) games, where injecting modern ideals and standards might not fit or needs to be better addressed, than just let it be cosmetic.

They shouldn't do a halfhearted job.

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[–] TheDemonBuer 22 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I think greater access to game development tools has been a very good thing for the industry. These days, I'm generally much more interested in what's coming from indie developers than any of the big companies, with a few exceptions. I think that's the best way to increase the diversity of games and game developers. Greater access to game development resources will help to democratize the gaming industry.

[–] BombOmOm 16 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Yep, the vast majority of the games I buy at this point are coming from indies.

The main issue is large studios want to make a safe game that does everything and appeals to everyone. Meanwhile, indies are making games that are fun-first and targeted at specific audiences, rather than just the mean.

Games like Factorio could be made by a big studio, but it wasn't, because it don't have mass appeal. Meanwhile, if you are in it's target audience, it is a 10/10 game. And it isn't like the studio had to shovel $200m into a pit to make this 10/10 game.

[–] CosmoNova 15 points 5 months ago (1 children)

The industry's effort to be more inclusive and diverse mostly comes from indie games, though. Of course AAA has long realized the potential to boost their image by copying some mechanics and ideas but let's not pretend any of those CEOs on their high horses actually cares about inclusion. They'll drop any efforts the very moment it doesn't benefit them directly. But there will always be passionate indie developers pushing boundaries to actually help more people enjoy games.

[–] meant2live218 1 points 4 months ago

I mean, GW2 (by Arenanet, owned by NCSoft) has had a lesbian couple since the first Living World season, and had a non-binary character in the 3rd expansion. They have inclusivity in a way that doesn't feel hamfisted or marketed; it's just in there because they feel like their world should have all sorts of people.

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