sophiaserpentia | (no subject)

In light of Activision-Blizzard's RealIDFail, it's dawned on me that there is a sizable void.

There are lots of women who play games. There are no developers catering to them.

Gaming has been historically extremely male-centered. The stereotypical gamer is a teen boy in his parents' basement hunched over an XBox or a Nintendo. The stereotypical game designer is a man who, ten years ago, was that boy. Game designers target boys' and men's idea of fun. Game advertisers target the interests of boys and men. And, as RealIDFail demonstrates quite clearly, game developers have little interest in the specific concerns of women online, where those concerns differ from men's, or in the specific ways in which women use social networks differently from men.

I'm cherry-picking my examples here for emphasis, but as anyone in the wide world of woman-gamer blogging can tell you, dealing with misogyny -- as well as racism, homophobia, and transphobia -- in the gamer universe or in game advertising or content is an everyday thing.

So... why should we? Make that trade-off to play games we enjoy, I mean?

If there are any development studios with an anti-racist, anti-sexist, anti-'phobic perspective, I want to find out who and where they are. A very cursory google search does not reveal the names of any studios developing from this perspective.

If there aren't... I want to play a role in founding one. Anyone else interested?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Funny. To me the stereotypical gamer is a thirties-forties gay or straight-hipster-geek male who wears World of Warcraft t-shirts to the office and has a serious black hole going on around his home computer...

Hehehe. Sounds like the stereotype I described, just 15 years older. It may also vary by location and social circles...

(deleted comment)

I might too, though for me there'd be the added condition that he'd have to be willing to stop gaming for sex.

Ha! Or maybe a knee rest on the floor could make raiding interesting.