Support NeoGAF

Spring Drive · Jun 18, 2016

Only three percent of games shown at E3 keynotes featured female protagonists
Just two titles had female leads

Of 59 new video games showcased at this year's E3, only three percent featured exclusively female protagonists, according to a survey compiled by gaming non-profit Feminist Frequency. In other words, just two games — ReCore and Horizon Zero Dawn — have female leads, while 24 games had male protagonists. That's a significant drop from last year, in which 9 percent of games shown had female leads while 32 percent contained male main characters. A majority of the remaining titles, both this year and last, let players choose either gender while playing or the gender of the character is unspecified.

Feminist Frequency, founded by critic Anita Sarkeesian, examines the gender balance at E3 as a function of measuring representation. The survey only counted games shown onstage by Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, and Bethesda, and online during Nintendo's live streamed press conference. While a blog post accompanying the survey makes sure to point out the games presented by these companies "don’t reflect the sum total of video games or games culture," they are a "strong indicator of what some of the most powerful forces in the industry consider emblematic of the best and most exciting things that gaming has to offer."

"This massive discrepancy means that for now, games continue to reinforce the deeply entrenched cultural notion that heroes are male by default. We live in a culture that regularly encourages girls and women to project themselves onto and fully empathize with male characters, but rarely encourages boys and men to fully project themselves onto female characters," Feminist Frequency's post reads. "When players are encouraged to see a game universe exclusively through the eyes of a humanized female character, it helps challenge the idea that men can’t or shouldn’t identify with women as full human beings."

http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/17/11967010/e3-gaming-gender-balance-feminist-frequency

zxcv11223300xi · Jun 18, 2016

They did not count Nier Automata and Gravity Rush 2

A-V-B · Jun 18, 2016

There were quite a few sequels on display. I wonder how much of an effect that had?

God of War sequel... it's gonna star Kratos.

Legend of Zelda... it's Link.

Gravity Rush sequel... it's got Kat.

So, whatever we had last couple years, that's gonna show up this year too.

warheat · Jun 18, 2016

So can someone tell me what's wrong with this?

Nictel · Jun 18, 2016

Mass Effect?

Also the sequel thing: It is going to take long before it is more a 50/50 thing. Two brand new IPs have female protagonists. At least one of them (Horizon) is a massive AAA game. This should be celebrated instead of focusing on the negative

Mezoly · Jun 18, 2016

zxcv11223300xi said:
They did not count Nier Automata and Gravity Rush 2

They are only counting press conferences.

A-V-B · Jun 18, 2016

Nictel said:
Mass Effect?

Does that count? Ryder is whatever you choose, isn't it?

Son Of D · Jun 18, 2016

zxcv11223300xi said:
They did not count Nier Automata and Gravity Rush 2

They weren't shown at conferences. And no the 2 second clip of GR2 at the end of Sony's conference doesn't count.

A-V-B said:
Does that count? Ryder is whatever you choose, isn't it?

That's correct. But the default choice is female which means she'll be the face of the marketing. It's like when people count Wii Fit Trainer and Robin as female/male characters in Smash respectively because of the default choices.

Mailbox · Jun 18, 2016

A-V-B said:
Does that count? Ryder is whatever you choose, isn't it?

Default female

A-V-B · Jun 18, 2016

Mailbox said:
Default female

Huh.

Aarglefarg · Jun 18, 2016

warheat said:
So can someone tell me what's wrong with this?

Perhaps the quote in the OP includes one reason.

The_White_Rose · Jun 18, 2016

Dishonored 2?

Spirited · Jun 18, 2016

The_White_Rose said:
Dishonored 2?

You can play as Corvo.

Nictel · Jun 18, 2016

A-V-B said:
Does that count? Ryder is whatever you choose, isn't it?

This is about representation, so I feel that it counts. They shifted from male Sheppard as representation of Mass Effect to a female lead.

Wulfram · Jun 18, 2016

Nictel said:
Mass Effect?

Games in which you choose your gender are counted seperately. About half of games were in that category.

Of the games with fixed gender protagonists, 7% were female, based on FF's numbers.

edit: Or you could say that in 90% of games you can play a man, and 52% you can play a woman.

TheSpecialOne · Jun 18, 2016

And how many games featured minorities as the protagonist?

kurahador · Jun 18, 2016

Mailbox said:
Default female

As the first paragraph of the excerpt say in the OP, the game need to be female protagonist ONLY.

Jockel · Jun 18, 2016

Wouldn't it be fair to count the games that let you choose your gender, too? Seems kind of odd to count those and "not clearly defined gender" protagonists together with the males. I think gaming has become quite more open over the last years.

truestatic · Jun 18, 2016

A-V-B said:
Does that count? Ryder is whatever you choose, isn't it?

Granted, but I'm a little bummed they discounted dishonored 2. Corvo is playable too, but the games marketing seems to center around Emily to the extreme, so to disclude it from the list of games that 'don't feature a female protagonist' seems unfair to dishonored. Not to the stats, though. 2 vs 3 is not a big step up.

Aarglefarg · Jun 18, 2016

Jockel said:
Wouldn't it be fair to count the games that let you choose your gender, too? Seems kind of odd to count those and "not clearly defined gender" protagonists together with the males. I think gaming has become quite more open over the last years.

They are counted separately from men.

Henkka · Jun 18, 2016

Thread title is a little misleading. 3% had exclusively female protagonists, so games like Mass Effect and Dishonored don't count towards that.

Altogether, 52% of games had playable female characters, apparently.

beakerboy · Jun 18, 2016

The U.S. is leading the world in childhood poverty, unemployment, corruption within the political and criminal justice systems, mass shootings, debt, and academic failure.

And this is what feminists are talking about? The fact that there aren't as many female characters in video games, as there are males?

I don't think Anita should be given a say on what goes into video games. She's probably only interested in "I'm Fat and I have Daddy Issues Simulator version 3.66"

TheRedSnifit · Jun 18, 2016

So the majority of them allow you to choose your gender? That doesn't seem like that big of an issue.

Phinor · Jun 18, 2016

Jockel said:
Wouldn't it be fair to count the games that let you choose your gender, too? Seems kind of odd to count those and "not clearly defined gender" protagonists together with the males. I think gaming has become quite more open over the last years.

That's what I would be looking for, giving player the choice and half of the games shown offer that but it doesn't make for a good agenda. Forcing players is better than offering choice but you have to force them to be the right gender.

A-V-B · Jun 18, 2016

beakerboy said:
The U.S. is leading the world in childhood poverty, unemployment, corruption within the political and criminal justice systems, mass shootings, debt, and academic failure.

And this is what feminists are talking about? The fact that there aren't as many female characters in video games, as there are males?

I don't think Anita should be given a say on what goes into video games. She's probably only interested in "I'm Fat and I have Daddy Issues Simulator version 3.66"

Oh, man... how long have you been here, dude?

truestatic said:
Granted, but I'm a little bummed they discounted dishonored 2. Corvo is playable too, but the games marketing seems to center around Emily to the extreme, so to disclose it from the list of games hat 'don't include a female protagonist' seems unfair too dishonored. Not to the stats, though. 2 vs 3 is not a big step up.

Edit: Corvo, not Corgi. Fuck you, autocorrect.

Imagining a Corgi protecting the Empress is pretty hilarious. Thanks.

TheRedSnifit · Jun 18, 2016

beakerboy said:
The U.S. is leading the world in childhood poverty, unemployment, corruption within the political and criminal justice systems, mass shootings, debt, and academic failure.

And this is what feminists are talking about? The fact that there aren't as many female characters in video games, as there are males?

I don't think Anita should be given a say on what goes into video games. She's probably only interested in "I'm Fat and I have Daddy Issues Simulator version 3.66"

Uh, okay.

Reverend Funk · Jun 18, 2016

beakerboy said:
The U.S. is leading the world in childhood poverty, unemployment, corruption within the political and criminal justice systems, mass shootings, debt, and academic failure.

And this is what feminists are talking about? The fact that there aren't as many female characters in video games, as there are males?

I don't think Anita should be given a say on what goes into video games. She's probably only interested in "I'm Fat and I have Daddy Issues Simulator version 3.66"

Sorry but fuck off

truestatic · Jun 18, 2016

beakerboy said:
The U.S. is leading the world in childhood poverty, unemployment, corruption within the political and criminal justice systems, mass shootings, debt, and academic failure.

And this is what feminists are talking about? The fact that there aren't as many female characters in video games, as there are males?

I don't think Anita should be given a say on what goes into video games. She's probably only interested in "I'm Fat and I have Daddy Issues Simulator version 3.66"

Ooooh nooo. What've you done.

fwiw beakerboy, this argument is pretty bullshit and you should know it. You're decrying the efforts of one woman when she's criticizing an entire industry of people devoted to providing us with largely puerile escapist experiences. If she's guilty of 'not worrying about the right things' then I think we all are. So uh... yeah. Not to mention the fact that it's possible to have more than one area of interest or concern.

A-V-B said:
Oh, man... how long have you been here, dude?

One post too long?

Allonym · Jun 18, 2016

I'm of the opinion that female and minority protagonists shouldn't be shoehorned into a game. I prefer something natural as opposed to some contrivance meant to appeal to a vocal community. Just my opinion. If your game was made in mind with having a minority/female/transexual lead great, if it wasn't, don't alter your vision for the sake winning press or the respect of gamers.

Fox_Mulder · Jun 18, 2016

kurahador · Jun 18, 2016

Henkka said:
Thread title is a little misleading. 3% had exclusively female protagonists, so games like Mass Effect and Dishonored don't count towards that.

Altogether, 52% of games had playable female characters, apparently.

Yeah. Weird they're taking it as a negative.

Instro · Jun 18, 2016

A-V-B said:
Oh, man... how long have you been here, dude?

Too long apparently.

TheLegendOfMart · Jun 18, 2016

warheat said:
So can someone tell me what's wrong with this?

Really?

50% of the world are women, 3% of games at E3 had female leads and you can't see whats wrong with it?

JC Sera · Jun 18, 2016

beakerboy said:
The U.S. is leading the world in childhood poverty, unemployment, corruption within the political and criminal justice systems, mass shootings, debt, and academic failure.

And this is what feminists are talking about? The fact that there aren't as many female characters in video games, as there are males?

I don't think Anita should be given a say on what goes into video games. She's probably only interested in "I'm Fat and I have Daddy Issues Simulator version 3.66"

I don't even know where to start

Blizzard · Jun 18, 2016

Allonym said:
I'm of the opinion that female and minority protagonists shouldn't be shoehorned into a game. I prefer something natural as opposed to some contrivance meant to appeal to a vocal community. Just my opinion. If your game was made in mind with having a minority/female/transexual lead great, if it wasn't, don't alter your vision for the sake winning press or the respect of gamers.

Which raises the question, aside from pick-your-character games, why would 97% of showcased games be made with a pure male protagonist in mind?

Someone already mentioned the sequel factor, but it's probably more than just that.

SpideySenses · Jun 18, 2016

It's frustrating that they create all these arbitrary rules to get the percentage lower, when if they included all the games being suggested it would still be a low number that needs to be reflected on and improved upon. Not to mention it takes credit away from developers who are doing such good work pushing the ideals that Feminist Frequency want the industry to strive for.

singhr1 · Jun 18, 2016

I think the word "exclusively" featured is important here. Plenty of games are gender non-specific (like Mass Effect or Sea of Thieves) or have females leads still playable like Gears 4.

cdnalsi · Jun 18, 2016

So what if there are more male heroes in video games? Isn't it supposed to be a free world? If a private company / developer chooses to use either gender, that's their business, isn't it?

Lightning Count · Jun 18, 2016

A-V-B said:
Does that count? Ryder is whatever you choose, isn't it?

I just know my Mass Effect loving friend is going to choose male Ryder.

SolidSnakex · Jun 18, 2016

TheLegendOfMart said:
Really?

50% of the world are women, 3% of games at E3 had female leads and you can't see whats wrong with it?

But that's not actually accurate. 3% had games where you could exclusively play as female characters. Henkka pointed out that if you include the games where both male and female are selectable characters then the percentage jumps to 52.

truestatic · Jun 18, 2016

Blizzard said:
Which raises the question, aside from pick-your-character games, why would 97% of showcased games be made with a pure male protagonist in mind?

Someone already mentioned the sequel factor, but it's probably more than just that.

I would be super curious to hear what chunk of the male lead games on display at the big pressers were sequels. Time for research.

CoolOff · Jun 18, 2016

cdnalsi said:
So what if there are more male heroes in video games? Isn't it supposed to be a free world? If a private company / developer chooses to use either gender, that's their business, isn't it?

It doesn't absolve them from criticism though.

Aarglefarg · Jun 18, 2016

cdnalsi said:
So what if there are more male heroes in video games? Isn't it supposed to be a free world? If a private company / developer chooses to use either gender, that's their business, isn't it?

Apparently media criticism is inconsistent with a free world for some reason?

Mezoly · Jun 18, 2016

warheat said:
So can someone tell me what's wrong with this?

Honestly for me, it's just boring to play the same dude over and over. Some variety is always nice. If you look at the male character design a lot of them are just blending in and becoming almost the same mid age grizzly character.

A-V-B · Jun 18, 2016

cdnalsi said:
So what if there are more male heroes in video games? Isn't it supposed to be a free world? If a private company / developer chooses to use either gender, that's their business, isn't it?

Definitely. But it's also good to have someone pointing things out from time to time, right? I don't think there's a call to make it law for 50 percent female protags or something, but it's good to have awareness about such things, maybe get some more games with female leads if there's a bigger realized demand for equal showing. At least that's one way to see it.

Flipyap · Jun 18, 2016

Wulfram said:
edit: Or you could say that in 90% of games you can play a man, and 52% you can play a woman.

52% sounds impressive, though it's not exactly comparable if that includes multiplayer skins or playable co-op sidekicks.

Eumi · Jun 18, 2016

Im not sure I like just counting press conference games. A lot of them are sequels to games with already male protags and it almost feels like you're ignoring the few games that do have female protags. Doing this is just making it seem worse than it is, and when it's already bad you're not gonna do anyone favours.

Plus as far as challenging the male default thing the best game doing that imo was Mass Effect since it is literally doing just that, but I'm not sure it's counted here because you can play a guy.

I dunno, maybe it just comes down to how much I hate when female protags are ignored, because I'm sure they aren't trying to do that.

Nictel · Jun 18, 2016

Wulfram said:
Games in which you choose your gender are counted seperately. About half of games were in that category.

Of the games with fixed gender protagonists, 7% were female, based on FF's numbers.

edit: Or you could say that in 90% of games you can play a man, and 52% you can play a woman.

Those numbers are already better. There is progress, maybe slower than some would like but this is the first year I feel where we had both minorities representated and female leads or female focused trailers. Where also important the female was a strong character.

Caayn · Jun 18, 2016

Really misleading topic title.

Allonym said:
I'm of the opinion that female and minority protagonists shouldn't be shoehorned into a game. I prefer something natural as opposed to some contrivance meant to appeal to a vocal community. Just my opinion. If your game was made in mind with having a minority/female/transexual lead great, if it wasn't, don't alter your vision for the sake winning press or the respect of gamers.

Agree. I fully understand this topic, at least I think I do. But seeing how it constantly pops-up in an almost forceful way it gives me the feeling that devs aren't even allowed any more to choose the gender of their own characters without getting negative feedback on it.

Lightning Count said:
I just know my Mass Effect loving friend is going to choose male Ryder.

Does it matter? The game offers you the choice to play as both genders (and we've seen that previous ME entries handle that really well).

OfTheOverflow · Jun 18, 2016

Detroit? Bound? Mass Effect? Just for starters.

Support NeoGAF

Only 3% of games shown at E3 keynotes featured exclusively female protagonists

Banned

Neo Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Mine is pretty and pink

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Comfy Penetration

Member

There should be more tampons in gaming

Rockefellers. Skull and Bones. Microsoft. Al Qaeda. A Cabal of Bankers. The melting point of steel. What do these things have in common? Wake up sheeple, the landfill wasn't even REAL!

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Similar threads