Representation of Race in Video Games

Video games are a well-known way of spending spare time but they
still havent generated a mainstream following. In a study done by the ESRB
about 67% of American households play video games and each year, for the
past few years, they have grossed $10.5 billion in revenue. For a comparison,
the movie industry in America grossed $31.8 billion during 2014 (Filmed
Entertainment Revenue, Statista.) It is safe to say that video games are no
longer a small hobby and have become a major form of entertainment, but
yet, even with the sudden rise in popularity, not a lot of people are aware of
some of the social problems that games have caused. One of the most
important issues is the idea of representation and diversity among video
games, especially when it comes to gender and race. In the past decade
there have been significantly more games released that feature white male
main characters than that of any other type. Almost 85% of video game
characters are white, leaving only 15% for the other ethnicities in the world
(PBS Digital Studios Are Games Racist?) Not a lot of people have noticed,
but those who feel affected are starting to make themselves heard and call
for change.

The majority of people,

as well as game developers
as it would seem, believe
that video games are
meant for a general
teenaged male population.
The idea that the gamer
population is just a bunch
of male teenagers has
been one of the main
arguments for the lack of
diversity. Game developers
claim that they want to
Figure 1:

Source:http://www.themarysue.com/wp-

content/uploads/2011/06/gaming-gender.png
appeal to the largest audience that
plays their games, but looking at recent statistics shows that they are
severely misguided. The female population of video game players is only
15% less than that of the male population. It is also shown that female
players over the age of 18 take up a larger section of the gamer population
than boys that are 17 or younger.

Similarly, this misconception about audience transfers to races as well.

White males seem to be the greater demographic that video game
developers seem to support. A recent report showing an examination of the
gaming community has revealed that this isnt the case. Asian-Americans as
well as African-Americans are far more likely to play or purchase video
games than white Americans. The report also revealed that of the ethnicities
studied Asian-Americans felt the most misrepresented. While a significant
amount of African-Americans and Hispanics still reported misrepresentation,
the majority had said that they were content with the representation of their
race in video games (Nielsen.)
After looking at the facts it is agreeable that people who are not
Caucasian are severely underrepresented in video games. This lack of
diversity leads to a couple of lesser known problems in video games that
make it to the market. Of the 15% of games that featured non-white
characters, many were heavily stereotyped. The issue of stereotyped
characters is still a lesser known one, and the social effects of video games
are only now beginning to be research, but the studies are revealing that
stereotypes can have some cognitive consequences. Constantly exposing
gamers to stereotyped characters leads to predetermined assumptions about
ethnic groups and influence how they process certain members of society
(Burgess Playing with Prejudice:.)

A major example of
stereotyped characters
comes from the video
game series Grand Theft
Auto. While the Grand
Theft Auto series has
been heavily attacked for
many controversial
reasons, you can
commonly find criticism
for its representation of
the characters and its
Figure 2: Franklin (Center frame) from Grand Theft Auto: V
apparently blatant
racism. After the 2013 release of the series most recent game, GTA: V, these
ideas were re-examined and have led to new crowds of anti-stereotype
followers to continue criticizing the series. Two main characters from the
Grand Theft Auto series, CJ from GTA: San Andreas and Franklin from GTA: V,
have been the driving force for these attacks. The two characters are AfricanAmerican males heavily involved in gang activity and are embodiments of a
lot of modern stereotypes. The Street Fighter franchise is another example of
games that heavily stereotype its characters, most importantly the Native
Americans. These games dont usually take the spotlight when it comes to
controversial issues in video games, but a lot of video game social issue
preachers will recognize the unfair representation of a lot of the characters.
In the gaming community there has always been the idea of games
needing to be more and more lifelike with the improvement of graphics and
are criticized if they dont look better than the competition. These criticisms
carry over to character creation. Some people in the industry defend the
amount of white males in video games by stating that when creating models
it is very hard to accurately depict people of race, especially when it comes
to hair. The issue with creating realistic hair can be applied to the creation of
female models. The game Assassins Creed: Unity was scrutinized for not
including female avatars in the multiplayer section of the game. The
developers backed their decision by stating that creating female variants for
character models, clothing, and animations would almost double production
time and was something they didnt have the resources for.
Another argument from industry specialists includes the idea of
Chiaroscuro. The premise of Chiaroscuro has been around since the
Renaissance and is the idea that the main focus of an art piece should be
emphasized in the frame. The emphasis of the subject includes a lot of
contrast, usually making them lighter or shining light onto them, so that the
figure stands out against a darker background. Its not commonly known, but

video games and movies

tend to reflect this idea,
even in the 21st century,
especially in media that
features dark
environments. White
characters are often
chosen because characters
from most other ethnicities
would be very difficult to
see (PBS Digital Studios
Are Games Racist?)

Figure 3: A screenshot from the game 'Dishonored' featuring a dark

environment. Source: http://www.technobuffalo.com/wpcontent/uploads/2011/08/Dishonored-1.jpg

The idea of
representation and
diversity in video games isnt quite as prominent of an issue as it is in real
communities, but it still effects real people. Racism seen in video games isnt
quite the prejudice of a race, as the connotation of the word would have you
believe. Its the problem of having too many games that overly showcase
white characters while ethnic characters are often underrepresented, or
misrepresented all together. The issue of sexism in games revolves around
the premise of video games not featuring enough strong female characters.
Often times they are the results of the damsel in distress stereotype or are
used for sex appeal. These issues are still only a drop in the bucket of social
issues that come with the sudden rise of popularity in video games, and that
bucket empties into the pool of issues that other media bring about. While
the social effects of video games are often overlooked, the issues that exist
need to be addressed before we can have a completely inclusive community
of gamers, and the common views and information that people believe need
to be corrected before any combating can be done.

Works Cited.

ESRB. "How Much Do You Know About Video Games? Share." Video Game Industry
Statistics. ESRB, n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.
Nielsen. "HOW DIVERSE ARE VIDEO GAMERSAND THE CHARACTERS THEY PLAY?"
Nielsen.com. The Nielsen Company, 24 Mar. 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.
PBS Digital Studios "Are Games Racist? | Game/Show | PBS Digital Studios."
YouTube. YouTube, 07 Nov. 2013. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.
Burgess, Melinda C. R., et al. "Playing With Prejudice: The Prevalence And
Consequences Of Racial Stereotypes In Video Games." Media Psychology 14.3
(2011): 289-311. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.

"Filmed Entertainment Revenue in the U.S. 2014 | Statistic." Statista. Web.

21 Nov. 2015.

Works Referenced.
Sze-Fai Shiu, Anthony. "What Yellowface Hides: Video Games, Whiteness, And The
American Racial Order." Journal Of Popular Culture 39.1 (2006): 109-125. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.
Rico, David. "Gamasutra: David Rico's Blog - How We Can Have Diversity in Our
Games without Yelling at People." Gamasutra Article. 28 Oct. 2014. Web. 10 Oct.
2015.