Sexism in Videogames

Can you really choose between two equal options?

This is quite a controversial topic, I know. And I don’t want to talk about every little detail in this conversation of things that have been wrong in video games. I actually love playing them myself, which is why I was motivated to write this post in the first place! Because I played games like Genshin Impact and the new Assainscreed games, where you can choose between a male and a female main character, but can you really? That’s what I want to focus on today 🙂

When you search for Genshin Impact or for any of the three latest Assassins Creed games, tell me what kind of images pop up. No really, do it and then come back here, just so you know that I don’t make up stories here. Have you done it and come back? Good, thank you. Then I assume you saw the artwork of the game and screenshots of the game and official promotional images of the game and most of them had the male version of the main character in them, right? I don’t talk about the images where the games refer to the character having two versions, but just normal promotional art with one version of them on the image. It’s always the guy wearing trousers for Geshin and the male assassins, isn’t that weird?

This little experiment showed that even though most games today have the option of choosing between two genders, the targeted audience is still the male one, wanting to play the male heroes. And that’s just a minor detail of what is upsetting me in these kinds of games. Another thing is how you play the games, which is especially visible in the new Assains Creed game.

Female heroes are just a copy of the male one – sometimes even censured

As you might know, those games often take place in some historical sites in the past, often at times where women were treated much differently than men were. So tell me then, why do I have the exact same dialogue playing a woman with an axe as a man with an axe. Because if I would really be in the presented time, I would have to deal with a lot more catcalling, not being taken seriously, or even attempted rape. I don’t think those things should keep the female version from being able to do everything in the game, but when you put this option in, it should feel real. So that when playing a woman, I might have to demonstrate my strength to make a man take me seriously because sadly that’s how it was and sometimes still is. But that’s not how it’s portrait in video games, because adding a female character version is not thought thorough decision, but a thing “you just do” in these modern times and you basically just copy-paste the function you already program for your real protagonist.

Another example, which I personally felt a big disadvantage was in the newest Assasins Creed game Valhalla. It was the first AC game where you could put on very different kinds of tattoos all around your body. I love customization like that and you had the option, to actually pay for those tattoos and new ones were coming out along with story updates and new character gear. So it was less of a gimmick and more of a full-on new feature they wanted to celebrate. But as a woman, you were not able to actually wear or see all of them, as you were not able to wear certain clothes. You might ask yourself, why it is that your female character does not have access to certain clothing?
Well actually, it was about how little clothing your character was able to wear. The male character was able to go and kill people with a bare chest, but the female version always needed to wear a kind of binder for her breasts. As a side note, the game Assasins Creed Vahalla was the first AC game which you would have to be 18 years old to buy, that being the legal age for drinking, driving a car and anything else in Germany. So there was really no reason to save adults from having to look at female nipples(which would have been digitally created). And in a game like this laziness does not count as an excuse.

Another problem with this exact game mechanic, which again just shows how this concept was not thought through at all, is the fact that you can’t upgrade your binder. You can upgrade everything else in the games, running around wearing a wolf coat with gold embellishments, shining boots, the sharpest weapons and even jewellery! But your character never got the chance to upgrade their old binder which they owned from the start of the game. Which seems to be just a white cloth that looks ridiculous together with gold embellished clothing. Meaning that basically every piece of clothing which required the male character to run around with a bare chest, making the great chest tattoos visible, the female version always looks odd. Not only because the tattoos could not be shown off in full glory, but because the old binder made it look like you combined some Level 1 armour with level 60 armour. Which I guess in turn explains why there is so less advertisement with the female character for this game, because the harsh, cool and rustic Viking look for which even the tattoos were really important just did not look good on the female character. Which the developer did not care or think about, because who does play as a female Viking anyways. right?

Conclusion

Don’t get me wrong, I am not angry because of some tattoos. I am not angry because of being treated nicely despite the fact that my character looks like a person who at that time in history might have been burned at a stake. I am not angry about the nicely designed male character I see every time I load up my Genshin game. I am angry about what’s behind all of these decisions: A man, thinking of other men, not of any women, who also pay for the games, play the games, recommend the games, and so on. We have 50% of the whole population being female, why does everyone seem to forget about or deliberately ignore that fact?

It’s not that difficult, I just wish for a game, where different gendered characters are included not only to please some feminist voices or to seem somewhat progressive but to actually give the players different options to experience the story. I want to feel my character struggle but thrive if it fits the setting of the game. I want more options to customize my character and either both female and male exclusive items or have the option to wear everything on both in a satisfying way. In short, I just want my character to be equal, not copies of each other, not censured versions. If a developer feels like only a male character fit his narrative, then just include one. But if you want to include more options, do it right. Think of everyone you are representing not only the men. I am a woman and I love videos games and I am just one out of many, don’t forget about or ignore us. Because we do not only play the games, we do pay for them too. If that’s the motivation people need these days so change something…

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress