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[MMaRsu]

Battefield 1 (Electronic Arts): Harlem HellfighterBattefield 1 (Electronic Arts): Harlem Hellfighter

The 369th Infantry Regiment is mostly famous because of American racism.

The US Army decided on 8 April 1918 to assign the unit to the French Army for the duration of the war because many white American soldiers refused to perform their duty with black soldiers. So, that's the lead and there is no French Army in the game?

Putting a black character as the lead in an historical game and then not telling the truth is not a step forward. Might as well put a likeliness of Mohamed Ali as the lead. It's a complete joke.

BF1 is a complete joke in regards to diversity. This posted above and no female soldiers in the game? Wtf :/.

 

[MadJackChurchill]

In before "I Can't Relate", "Shoehorned In" and "I Can't Even Watch Black Porn".

This is a great thing and I look forward to seeing devs and publishers expand their protagonist rosters even more in years to come. Latino, Asian, different genders, the works. This industry is much bigger than the same old same old, it's about bloody time the games reflected it.

Hell yeah. I'm white, pasty and privileged as all hell. I want to play the shit out of three of those four games (Watch_Dogs excluded because fool me twice).

 

[weekev]

From a marketing point of view would it not make sense for publishers to go all in on the Indian or Chinese markets and have a protagonist from either of those countries. I mean that is almost half the world's population in those 2 countries if you could make games more accessible to them, think of the coinage that would be possible.

And yet we stay with American or Japanese because that is where the current market is.

 

[RedToad64]

Has nobody mentioned Nintendo's Ever Oasis yet?!

 

[Zojirushi]

Isn't Kratos also black?

No, he's Greek.

Sorry but lol!

 

[Triggerhappytel]

In another decade or so. One day I hope a major game leads with an Indian person.

Far Cry 4?

 

[spazchicken]

My first time ever seeing this game but I don't believe he is the main character. He looks like a goofy NPC from a GTA game.

 

[KonradLaw]

In another decade or so. One day I hope a major game leads with an Indian person.

It's not major game, but Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India had indian protagonist and it's easily the best game out of the three AC Chronicles titles.
As a whole AC IP has done remarkable job when it comes to diversity in their leads. Them jumping around the rarely used historical settings is one of the greatests assets of that series.

 

[KonradLaw]

My first time ever seeing this game but I don't believe he is the main character. He looks like a goofy NPC from a GTA game.

To be honest..goofy black lead is kind of refreshing though Usually black leads are the classic "tough motherf*@#s"

 

[Skux]

Just goes to show that the result of a "diversity report card" can look wildly different based on the criteria. If you're The Guardian it's all white men. But if you're a gamer who enjoys AAA releases there's a huge range out there.

 

[mikefrails]

2.5/4 or 2/4 or 3/4 depending on your perspective technically, Lincoln Clay is as much white as black.

lol, for real?

 

[Some Nobody]

The still in development RPG Game Indivisible's main character has a Southeast Asian protagonist named Ajna

OMG I can't wait to play this game. She looks so cool~

2.5/4 or 2/4 or 3/4 depending on your perspective technically, Lincoln Clay is as much white as black.

Go Google the term "one-drop rule", and then revisit this post. Just saying.

And this is actually pretty lit. But it is a one step at a time sort of deal, so it needs to be consistent. This year we've got black dudes (we winning out here), next year let's try to get some POC women. Hopefully by 2020 we can have a variety of races, genders, and sexualities (in the games where this matters) rather than just straight white males being on the front cover of every game.

 

[Hypron]

Has there ever been a game with a playable pacific islander character? I'm trying to think of one but I don't think I can.

Also, I'm really glad to see this trend of seeing more non-white characters in game (actually, I'll even take white characters that aren't from English countries). I'm white but one of the things I like about video games is that you can (in theory) play any character. So I find it pretty boring when most protagonists are also white guys with dark hair like me. I like me some escapism.

 

[Delusibeta]

The problem that Watch Dogs 2 and Mafia 3 is going to face is that they're both sequels to games that are generally regarded as bad. Hence, I suspect noticeably fewer people are going to preorder them. I suspect that the publishers would then blame the lackluster performance of those games on having a black lead (instead of people being wary of the franchise after the last game being bad) and deciding to stick with white dudes for future games.

 

[KonradLaw]

Has there ever been a game with a playable pacific islander character? I'm trying to think of one but I don't think I can.

DreadOut series has Indonesian schoolgirl as it's progagonist.
And upcoming Devastated Dreams has adult Philippine woman as the main hero.

 

[KonradLaw]

The problem that Watch Dogs 2 and Mafia 3 is going to face is that they're both sequels to games that are generally regarded as bad. Hence, I suspect noticeably fewer people are going to preorder them. I suspect that the publishers would then blame the lackluster performance of those games on having a black lead (instead of people being wary of the franchise after the last game being bad) and deciding to stick with white dudes for future games.

Meh. People might complain, but Watch Dog sold like crazy. Mafia II was also a big seller.

Both Mafia 3 and Watch Dogs 2 will be a big sellers.

And WD2 might be absolutely huge. Ubisoft has tendency to make interesting, but flawed first entries (or first ones with radical redesigns) and then absolutely killing it in sequels. This is what happened with Far Cry 3, Assassin's Creed 2 or Blacklist.

 

[abstract alien]

Has nobody mentioned Nintendo's Ever Oasis yet?!

I have no idea what this is so I guess I should check.

 

[CrimsonSquall]

My first time ever seeing this game but I don't believe he is the main character. He looks like a goofy NPC from a GTA game.

He is the main character. He works with DedSec and is a newage hacker in San Francisco. His aesthetic is fitting all things considered. Just a more vibrant edgy Mr. Robot

 

[spazchicken]

He is the main character. He works with DedSec and is a newage hacker in San Francisco. His aesthetic is fitting all things considered. Just a more vibrant edgy Mr. Robot

I can't see this guy being a bad ass and shooting 30 people in the street right after he chased them down and blew half of them up with a man hole.

Maybe his look will change later?

 

[MMaRsu]

The problem that Watch Dogs 2 and Mafia 3 is going to face is that they're both sequels to games that are generally regarded as bad. Hence, I suspect noticeably fewer people are going to preorder them. I suspect that the publishers would then blame the lackluster performance of those games on having a black lead (instead of people being wary of the franchise after the last game being bad) and deciding to stick with white dudes for future games.

Mafia 2 isnt generally regarded as bad wtf.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

OMG I can't wait to play this game. She looks so cool~

If you weren't already aware, there is a demo on PSN. It's bloody superb, with really fast, exciting combat and outstanding character and enemy design.

 

[neurosyphilis]

This is great. Mafia III looks like it's going to be amazing and Lincoln Clay looks to be a awesome character. The other two though are a Ubisoft game and a game that doesn't really give a damn about the story, so it's just something short and tacked on.

-d0hv

 

[samar11]

Christopher Judge is playing a white character, find that funny lol

 

[BacklashWave534]

I believe diversity would also include females. Not really a victory until females are better represented in gaming.

 

[NoMoreTrolls]

I believe diversity would also include females. Not really a victory until females are better represented in gaming.

So more representation isn't a victory unless your team wins? Good logic buddy. I, too, would appreciate more female leads in gaming, but to claim that the increasing amount of minority representation we are seeing isn't a victory is strange.

 

[Eumi]

Glad to see so many people already trying to spin this as a bad thing. Everything from "I can't relate!" to "its just shoehorned in!" and all the way to "well that's not really diversity". All the resistance that's been coming out in recent years just goes to show how much everything's changing and improving. These flagship titles are the most important places to see this diversity. Makes me excited for the future.

 

[Data West]

I'd say the FIFA kid being black is a much bigger deal than the Battlefield dude



Black women are still painfully underrepresented in video games. Seems most female leads are white women with red hair.

 

[ricki42]

As a German, I would appreciate a game that features Germans and doesn't involve Nazism, Nazi dogs, Nazi zombies or Ilsa She Wolf of the SS.

Check out Shadowrun: Dragonfall, it's set in Berlin.

 

[BacklashWave534]

So more representation isn't a victory unless your team wins? Good logic buddy. I, too, would appreciate more female leads in gaming, but to claim that the increasing amount of minority representation we are seeing isn't a victory is strange.

Not really my group and I'm not trying to minimize what's been done. Guess I'm just a glass is half empty kind of guy.

 

[jet1911]

Battefield 1 (Electronic Arts): Harlem HellfighterBattefield 1 (Electronic Arts): Harlem Hellfighter

The 369th Infantry Regiment is mostly famous because of American racism.

The US Army decided on 8 April 1918 to assign the unit to the French Army for the duration of the war because many white American soldiers refused to perform their duty with black soldiers. So, that's the lead and there is no French Army in the game?

Putting a black character as the lead in an historical game and then not telling the truth is not a step forward. Might as well put a likeliness of Mohamed Ali as the lead. It's a complete joke.

We have no idea how and what will be in the campaign though.

 

[jrDev]

YES!

Next up: Black woman leads.

 

[KiraXD]

Yes indeed

New Voice actor also.

 

[Senoculum]

SO WHERE DA LATINOS AT?

 

[Heshinsi]

I'd kill for some Arab representation, I literally only bought SFV to play as Rashid even though I hate 2D fighters. But I'm happy to see some positive representation for African Americans.

We're getting a female bedouin in BF1

 

[Spinluck]

2.5/4 or 2/4 or 3/4 depending on your perspective technically, Lincoln Clay is as much white as black.

Tell that to our president.

 

[Soodanim]

watch_dogs is going to be interesting. I know you can play nonlethal, but having a game where you are a young black adult with the option to gun down police with assault weapons in 2016 is, interesting.

I hate this way of thinking so much. It's Daily Mail or Fox News "journalism".