More Color in Video Game Characters Are Needed

Video games are played by people of all races, but not all races are represented properly. Still to this day, very few video games feature black protagonists. Many people do not realize this and don’t think this is a problem. Others might think that this is a massive problem and minorities are being left out of video games on purpose. Personally, I think that it is a problem but isn’t done in an attempt to exclude different minority groups. Rather I think it occurs as a result of game developers not being aware of their own biases, which is something that definitely needs to change. Not only is this a problem in the video game industry, but this reflects an image on all of society that needs to improve.

Black video game characters make up less than two percent of all characters in video games even though 71 percent of black people play video games. To me, this stat doesn’t make much sense. Even crazier yet, only 61 percent of white people play video games and make up 98 percent of all video game characters (Blackvity Team, 2017). As a video game developer, I would think that you would see the resounding support from African Americans and want to appeal more to them. So what could be the explanations for the lack of color in video game characters? I could only think of two things. One that came to mind was that game developers don’t want to turn off white gamers. I really hope this isn’t then case. It would be sad if game developers think white gamers wouldn’t be up to the idea of playing as black characters. The other explanation for this could be that white gamed developers simply don’t think of putting more black characters into games and there just aren’t enough black game developers. I hope this is the case.

Almost as bad as the less than two percent of video game characters that are black, merely three percent of video game developers are black. Once you consider the minimal amount of black video game developers, you can start to see how black characters in video games are so hard to find. Another way video game developers’ biases show are in video games that allow you to create your own character. Almost every time, the default character you start out with is a white male and often times there are far less options for characters of color (Blackvity Team, 2017).

So is the solution to this problem simply to encourage more African Americans to become game developers? While I think this could help the situation, I do not think this is the best way to fix the problem. As a society, we need to become aware of our unconscious biases and do our best to put ourselves in others shoes in order to see others’ perspectives. If we can do this, I strongly think that the video game industry will start to produce more characters of color. In addition to there being more video games characters of color, gamers could also start to see games in ways that might differ from what they are used to.

The video game industry needs to do a better job of appealing to all gamers. If this is done properly, there will be far more protagonists of color and gamers of all colors will benefit tremendously. This will not only require more black video game developers, but also will require all video game developers to realize their biases and do their best to gain new perspectives to combat those biases. If this could happen, not only will the video game industry be a better and more successful, but it also would be a massive step forward for all of society.

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