Four years ago a row hit the games industry like an atomic bomb.
The treatment of women, within both the industry and the games themselves, was being scrutinised like never before. And, as journalists predicted that “gamers are over”, an angry, and at times vicious, movement emerged: Gamergate.
Supporters of Gamergate would say it was about “ethics in games journalism”. But it was quite openly more often than not about something else: women, minorities and hatred of so-called “social justice warriors” - the “SJWs” - as if social justice was something to be avoided.
It was a row that would go on to consume lives and careers, creating celebrities of likes of Milo Yiannopoulos as it went. In many respects, Gamergate was a dress rehearsal for what we refer to today as the alt-right.
In the new game, The Last of Us Part 2, Ellie is the lead. And as the trailer commences, we see her dancing slowly with a woman, her girlfriend, and they exchange a passionate kiss. The crowd cheered - not like excitable schoolboys seeing two girls make out, but like adults who had followed Ellie’s story and cared about the outcome.
“I think they were trying to make it clear to people that this is what they’re about,” said Julian Rizzo-Smith, a gay games journalist from Australia, whom I bumped into after the event.
“I think it was really setting a benchmark for what their future plans are. It’s a perfectly fine reflection of society. If you have a problem that it’s the biggest game of the show, that’s on you.”
Sony doesn’t stand alone in this. Microsoft, with its Xbox, also used one of its biggest titles this year - Gears 5 - to make a statement. For the first time in the franchise the lead character will be a woman, the ferocious Kait.
“It felt like a natural way to pivot the franchise a little bit,” said developer Rod Fergusson, speaking to Wired magazine. “And allow you to actually play the true hero of the story.”
Predictably, the decision raised some ire from certain corners of the gaming community.
“It’s amazing that Microsoft and The Coalition decided to take the most testosterone-driven, male-centric third-person shooter brand on the market and still find some way to inject it with third-wave feminism,” wrote the One Angry Gamer blog, decrying the “diversity agenda” in games.
'We're in 2018'
Across town, at an event hosted by EA, there’s a line of people baking under the LA sun in the hope of getting a chance to play Battlefield 5. For the first time, players will be able to play as a woman in that.
When news of the new game was published online, a backlash ensued, with some fans left incensed that adding women into the game would not be historically accurate. A hashtag, #notmybattlefield, was born.
Checking in with what’s left of the Gamergate movement these days finds little discussion about “ethics in games journalism”.
As I type this, topics on one of the movement’s most popular forums revolves around anger over the imprisonment of far-right figure Tommy Robinson, female Wikipedia editors, and how the left has supposedly infiltrated the games industry (and, by extension, everything else too).
What were once referred to as the “thinly-veiled” elements of Gamergate are now fully visible.
But it no longer matters. As I leave Los Angeles, with another E3 behind us, it’s clear that the Gamergate way of thinking has lost. The industry has stepped up - and video games will be all the better for it.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-44504344
The treatment of women, within both the industry and the games themselves, was being scrutinised like never before. And, as journalists predicted that “gamers are over”, an angry, and at times vicious, movement emerged: Gamergate.
Supporters of Gamergate would say it was about “ethics in games journalism”. But it was quite openly more often than not about something else: women, minorities and hatred of so-called “social justice warriors” - the “SJWs” - as if social justice was something to be avoided.
It was a row that would go on to consume lives and careers, creating celebrities of likes of Milo Yiannopoulos as it went. In many respects, Gamergate was a dress rehearsal for what we refer to today as the alt-right.
In the new game, The Last of Us Part 2, Ellie is the lead. And as the trailer commences, we see her dancing slowly with a woman, her girlfriend, and they exchange a passionate kiss. The crowd cheered - not like excitable schoolboys seeing two girls make out, but like adults who had followed Ellie’s story and cared about the outcome.
“I think they were trying to make it clear to people that this is what they’re about,” said Julian Rizzo-Smith, a gay games journalist from Australia, whom I bumped into after the event.
“I think it was really setting a benchmark for what their future plans are. It’s a perfectly fine reflection of society. If you have a problem that it’s the biggest game of the show, that’s on you.”
Sony doesn’t stand alone in this. Microsoft, with its Xbox, also used one of its biggest titles this year - Gears 5 - to make a statement. For the first time in the franchise the lead character will be a woman, the ferocious Kait.
“It felt like a natural way to pivot the franchise a little bit,” said developer Rod Fergusson, speaking to Wired magazine. “And allow you to actually play the true hero of the story.”
Predictably, the decision raised some ire from certain corners of the gaming community.
“It’s amazing that Microsoft and The Coalition decided to take the most testosterone-driven, male-centric third-person shooter brand on the market and still find some way to inject it with third-wave feminism,” wrote the One Angry Gamer blog, decrying the “diversity agenda” in games.
'We're in 2018'
Across town, at an event hosted by EA, there’s a line of people baking under the LA sun in the hope of getting a chance to play Battlefield 5. For the first time, players will be able to play as a woman in that.
When news of the new game was published online, a backlash ensued, with some fans left incensed that adding women into the game would not be historically accurate. A hashtag, #notmybattlefield, was born.
Checking in with what’s left of the Gamergate movement these days finds little discussion about “ethics in games journalism”.
As I type this, topics on one of the movement’s most popular forums revolves around anger over the imprisonment of far-right figure Tommy Robinson, female Wikipedia editors, and how the left has supposedly infiltrated the games industry (and, by extension, everything else too).
What were once referred to as the “thinly-veiled” elements of Gamergate are now fully visible.
But it no longer matters. As I leave Los Angeles, with another E3 behind us, it’s clear that the Gamergate way of thinking has lost. The industry has stepped up - and video games will be all the better for it.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-44504344
