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[NoblesseOblige]

Source: http://feministfrequency.com/2015/06/22/gender-breakdown-of-games-showcased-at-e3-2015/

There were 7 games with exclusively playable female protagonists or 9% of a total 76 titles

There were 24 games with exclusively playable male protagonists or 32% of a total 76 titles

Some may ask why it is important that there be games led exclusively by women, and why we make a distinction between those games in which the sole protagonist is a woman (such as Mirror’s Edge) and those games in which you have the option to play as either a male or female character (such as Fallout 4).

One reason why we need more games that are fronted exclusively by female characters is that it works to counter the long-established, long-reinforced cultural notion that heroes are male by default. By and large girls and women are expected to project themselves onto male characters, but boys and men are not encouraged to project themselves onto or identify with female characters.

When players are given the opportunity to see a game universe exclusively through the eyes of a female character with her own unique story, it helps challenge the idea that men can’t or shouldn’t identify with women, their lives, and their struggles.

More in the article, including an observation on combat requirement in games. I'm not particularly interested in that debate so I'm leaving it out of the OP. For my own thoughts: I was happy to see at least some women featured as leads in games at this E3. Still not equal, but better from my recollection of previous years. Also was happy to see women developers at several conferences, though disappointed I didn't see any at Sony's.

If duplicate then I volunteer as living sacrifice to the gods of social justice.

 

[Mesoian]

By and large girls and women are expected to project themselves onto male characters, but boys and men are not encouraged to project themselves onto or identify with female characters.

I don't agree with that at all. That is a viewpoint using a very selective lense when trying to map the style and demographic for videogames enmasse.

 

[Druz]

I hope this isn't saying "Females should be playable in nearly 50% of available games."

If people want games with female "heroes" then they'll sell. If it doesn't sell, then it doesn't deserve more % of the pie.

 

[Grinchy]

Another perspective is that 59% of the games announced don't require you to be a gender you don't feel like playing as if you are a person who is adamant about playing as a specific gender. That's a more positive way to look at it too, IMO.

 

[Kain]

What about not wanting to project onto any character? I don't care about the race/gender of the characters I play, I don't identify with them, and frankly, I find the concept of identifying with a character a little bit baffling.

 

[AU Tiger]

Edit: I will add though that the games I care about the most out of that show will either be lead female or optional female (fallout, mirrors edge, horizon, dark souls 3)

 

[RoboPlato]

46% give you a choice? That's a big deal, especially since it's far more work to make a game have a character creator or have multiple playable characters.

 

[Mesoian]

46% give you a choice? That's a big deal.

It really is.

 

[gotstrangepowers]

I hope this isn't saying "Females should be playable in nearly 50% of available games."

If people want games with female "heroes" then they'll sell. If it doesn't sell, then it doesn't deserve more % of the pie.

But it's already here. Her own chart states that 46% of the games allow you to choose either male or female. I wish she'd included historical data.

 

[Einbroch]

Half of the games giving you a choice is pretty huge.

 

[shadyspace]

I don't agree with that at all. That is a viewpoint using a very selective lense when trying to map the style and demographic for videogames enmasse.

Everybody in Splatoon plays as the female squid because they look cooler.

 

[weemadarthur]

That is a chart I'd be interested to see applied to each historical console. Also individual developers. Not sure PC could be done as a platform.

 

[Mivey]

And more importantly, more than half allow you to play as female. Shouldn't that be the take home message?

 

[notworksafe]

They could have said almost half of the games give you a choice to play as one gender or the other but I guess that doesn't make the headlines they are hoping for.

 

[The Elite]

I think the either stat is the important one.

That's good to see.

 

[grandjedi6]

This is a pretty fascinating thing to look into but she shouldn't have limited herself to only what was shown in the press conferences. That is good for showing what publishers want you to play (a valid argument itself!) but isn't the best sample size for the argument she does make.

 

[anexanhume]

I don't agree with that at all. That is a viewpoint using a very selective lense when trying to map the style and demographic for videogames enmasse.

Well, it's not explicit. Girls are encouraged to project by the fact that, in the past, protagonists have been overwhelmingly male. So, you either identify with them, or no one at all.

On the other hand, female characters have often been characters made with a male audience in mind, so we see them as an object of desire, at least in part.

We're now seeing more and more female character designs where their appearance matches their strong characters.

This is a pretty fascinating thing to look into but she shouldn't have limited herself to only what was shown in the press conferences. That is good for showing what publishers want you to play (a valid argument itself!) but isn't the best sample size for the argument she does make.

It's incredibly important because it's the public "face" of games that they're exhibiting. Overall statistics are important too, but this isn't devalued because it's a subset selected with some intelligence.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

46% of games allow either? That's really a huge thing.

 

[NoblesseOblige]

Another perspective is that 59% of the games announced don't require you to be a gender you don't feel like playing as if you are a person who is adamant about playing as a specific gender. That's a more positive way to look at it too, IMO.

I agree, and it's great when games give you a choice. At the same time when games have a narrative it's sometimes easier to develop with a set character in mind. For those games I look forward to the day we have a more diverse selection of protagonists than genericwhitemen. It looks like we're getting at least a little better on the gender front towards that.

 

[Deleted member 126221]

I hope this isn't saying "Females should be playable in nearly 50% of available games."

If people want games with female "heroes" then they'll sell. If it doesn't sell, then it doesn't deserve more % of the pie.

You think a lot of people base their gaming purchase decisions on the sex of the protagonist? And if so, don't you think it's a problem?

 

[Steverulez]

I like the choice, but don't mind if a game picks a male or female lead if they're important to the story the developer wants to tell.

More important than the gender is an interesting character.

 

[ebullientprism]

Interesting stats mixed with some amateur armchair "psychiatry".

When players are given the opportunity to see a game universe exclusively through the eyes of a female character with her own unique story, it helps challenge the idea that men can’t or shouldn’t identify with women, their lives, and their struggles.

No it really doesnt. Cant think of many games that had a playable female lead an actually dealt with any realistic struggles that women would face.

Edit I guess the last TR was a little "rapey" at a certain point. Does that count?

 

[mr2t]

So should we expect developers to coordinate with Anita to get that perfect male/female ratio?

 

[mclem]

Everybody in Splatoon plays as the female squid because they look cooler.

As an aside, I'm trying to think of another game where you have the choice, yet the promotion largely leads with the female version front-and-centre.

 

[WhiskeyKnight]

46% give you a choice? That's a big deal.

That is a pretty amazing statistic.

 

[AkuMifune]

I see progress, I'm satisfied with the direction things are moving. Forcing the issue just makes people push back harder, though that lesson seems lost on them ironically.

 

[jackissocool]

46% of games allow either? That's really a huge thing.

Yeah. Now in 55% of the games down at E3, you can play as a woman. That's some great progress.

 

[ANDS]

If the goal is to not force gender choices on to players, that a majority of the games leave this decision up to the player seems to be missing the forest for the trees.

Also I'm curious how many people are projecting themselves on to heavily story driven games with clearly defined main characters (as opposed to unvoiced or gender non-specific games).

 

[maomaoIYP]

I don't care about projecting onto a character. The character in a game doesn't need to be something I can relate to.
edit: ^ exactly. In a story driven game, the hero of the story is just that. I don't pretend that I'm the hero, I'm just there for the ride.
If it's a well written story I honestly don't care about the gender of the main character.

 

[Ruprit]

By and large girls and women are expected to project themselves onto male characters, but boys and men are not encouraged to project themselves onto or identify with female characters.

I really wish the author would source references that support such statements. Without supporting evidence, this is nothing more than opinion being presented as fact.

 

[Nirolak]

So removing the 10 N/A games here, I get:

63.6% of games where you can play as a woman.
36.3% of games where you can only play as a guy.
10.6% where you can only play as a woman.

I suspect that's a large increase from last year and a gigantic one from, say, five years ago.

As an aside, 76 games at E3 seems surprisingly low.

 

[Burger]

So there are more games where you can play as a female compared to those that force you to play as a male?

Sounds like a good thing.

 

[SmokyDave]

I don't understand why the 'either' bar is missing from the bottom. It's on the other two representations.

Looks pretty damned good from where I'm sitting. I'm not surprised it leans towards men, but I am surprised at how often you're given the choice.

 

[PotionBleue]

Additionally, we are well aware that Yoshi’s gender has been discussed and debated, but Nintendo uses male pronouns when referring to Yoshi, so for our purposes here, Yoshi’s Woolly World (which looks delightful!) is classified as a male-led game.

Seriously? -_- They really should exclude non-humanoids.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

I project myself onto female characters all the time. In games like Skyrim, going female is almost my default choice. Maybe because I like strong women? Super Metroid's also my favorite game.

That being said, I don't think we need a nanny counting out how many lead females/males there are and trying to make that a 50/50 split.

 

[Hyun Sai]

The percentage of games allowing choice is really huge and that's what matters in the end.

 

[nynt9]

She lost me when she said Dishonored 2 shouldn't have given players the option to play as Corvo in addition to Emily. I love the idea of playing as Emily, and I love the idea of playing as Corvo as well. And they play differently. Developers found a way to let everyone play as whatever they want, but you want them to take away options? That doesn't make sense to me.

And her "exclusively female view" argument doesn't necessarily apply because we don't know how different Emily's version of the game will be.

 

[Mesoian]

As an aside, I'm trying to think of another game where you have the choice, yet the promotion largely leads with the female version front-and-centre.

Skyrim, at least from what I've seen. That's pretty anecdotal though.

She lost me when she said Dishonored 2 shouldn't have given players the option to play as Corvo in addition to Emily. I love the idea of playing as Emily, and I love the idea of playing as Corvo as well. And they play differently. Developers found a way to let everyone play as whatever they want, but you want them to take away options? That doesn't make sense to me.

It's the lack of information revolving around that entire thing that really put me off. Who's to say that Emily and Corvo don't have separate campaigns similar to RE? We know NOTHING about that game other than there are two playable characters. Condemning a game because of a trailer and a byline is nothing short of kneejerk.

 

[ultron87]

As an aside, I'm trying to think of another game where you have the choice, yet the promotion largely leads with the female version front-and-centre.

The article mentions Dishonored 2 as the only one shown at the various press conferences that did this.

 

[Deleted member 126221]

So should we expect developers to coordinate with Anita to get that perfect male/female ratio?

No? How did you come to that conclusion?

It's depressing to see so many gamers act as if discussing gender representation in games is an hostage situation where terrorists ask for 50/50 representation or else Kratos will be executed on camera, or something.

 

[Dremark]

What relevance to the subject does whether of not the game is violent have? Did I miss something?

 

[Zakalwe]

We'll never get a perfect balance, but it would definitely be better to see more games led by single female protagonists.

We have a healthy amount of "either" now, that's great, but there's still imbalance to be addressed.

 

[Inferno313]

Skyrim, at least from what I've seen.

Skyrim has a male on the boxart and all the posters.

 

[Netherscourge]

So 55% of all games at this year's E3 offer AT LEAST a female protagonist.

Looks like progress to me.

Am I missing something?

 

[timetokill]

I don't understand why the 'either' bar is missing from the bottom. It's on the other two representations.

Oh, you know why.

 

[Nirolak]

Skyrim, at least from what I've seen. That's pretty anecdotal though.

The main promotional person there is actually a guy. The viking man in the helmet.

Dishonored 2 is an example though.

 

[Manoko]

I don't agree with that at all. That is a viewpoint using a very selective lense when trying to map the style and demographic for videogames enmasse.

Basically summing up everything about Anita Sarkisian's opinions.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Why no information on games written or led or designed by females? Has that initiative been successful?

 

[Leafhopper]

She lost me when she said Dishonored 2 shouldn't have given players the option to play as Corvo in addition to Emily. I love the idea of playing as Emily, and I love the idea of playing as Corvo as well. And they play differently. Developers found a way to let everyone play as whatever they want, but you want them to take away options? That doesn't make sense to me.

And her "exclusively female view" argument doesn't necessarily apply because we don't know how different Emily's version of the game will be.

The whole Dishonered thing made me scratch my head.

 

[TheLegendOfMart]

When players are given the opportunity to see a game universe exclusively through the eyes of a female character with her own unique story, it helps challenge the idea that men can’t or shouldn’t identify with women, their lives, and their struggles.

Completely agree, I feel I should identify with mass murderers who kill thousands of people over the course of a game.

People don't play games to identify with the protagonist, they play games to have fun and escape reality, that's not to say there shouldn't be an equal amount of representation however.