No one is making a game that effectively makes you make hard, difficult choices during a time of war. There are violent contexts that we’re not actually pursuing. Games don’t have to just be about war and love – those are extremes. How do I systemically create a relationship on-screen? Frankly, most of us can’t explain how love works in the real world, let alone how to simulate it in a game. Shooting a gun – we understand how that works. I also think – from a video game perspective – we understand how to model violence systemically. That’s realistic in a way.īut why do we get attracted to stories of war and violent crimes? Is it because we’ve been conditioned since the day we were born to watch stories of war and violent crime? I would argue that’s what’s happening. You could say, that, if you’re talking about who’s committing violent crimes, it’s men. I’d love to see more people trying interesting things.įor whatever reasons, people tend to like stories about war and violent crime. But my argument is that, one, there are some diminishing returns there. It works for the most part, in terms of sales, which is the ultimate goal of a company or business. They have data points on how to make those things and how to make the big blockbuster shooter, the big masculine, testosterone-driven game. What we have is an industry that is used to making something. Anytime something is not proven, it becomes more risky. If you look at some of the huge franchises, that seems to be true. I’m a firm believer that more diverse workforces would lead to more diverse game stories, characters, and interesting things you haven’t played yet that’s not a guy saving the world or saving a girl from -a -monster.ĭata suggests games that feature white male characters tend to sell better. I think you see some of the output of that workforce as a result. We have a workforce that’s predominantly white males. You didn’t talk about the larger culture surrounding games in your speech, but it seems like it’s hard to separate the issues of representation in games from the larger culture of games.Ībsolutely not. I’ve only received a handful, which is actually kind of surprising. When you go on Twitter, there’s this world of anonymous people who can snipe back. Overwhelmingly, I’ve gotten positive feedback on the content of the talk, the delivery, the timing, the research I put into it, and things like that. What feedback have you received since then? Your talk at GDC about representations of race, gender, and sexual orientation in games made a big impact. We spoke to Heir about his opinions on diversity in games and how he would advocate for change in the industry. At the most recent Game Developers Conference, BioWare Montreal’s Manveer Heir delivered an impassioned keynote about inclusivity and the lack of representation in games.
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