Would a writing and programming team that was made up of all non-white, non-cis-male, and/or non-heterosexual people produce works with less casual racism, sexism, and homophobia? Probably. Would they be able to make games that focus on their issues? I highly doubt it. There simply isn’t an audience for it.

And that’s not to say that only white, cis-male, heterosexual people play games, by no means, but that the vast majority of people don’t want to spend their time considering such issues. And furthermore, most people aren’t interested in paying rather large amounts of money for such products. Maybe you have more faith in people than I do, but I seriously doubt there is a large enough audience to support a “mainstream” game (which I assume is a AAA game?) about gender, race, or sexuality.

Television and films are more likely places to break through – the cost to produce and release a mainstream television series or film are both lower than the financial and time investment necessary for a mainstream game and the cost to the audience is substantially lower as well.

But in this culture and in a capitalist economy, I cannot really blame companies for aiming for the lowest common denominator. That doesn’t make it right, not at all, but it is the way that capitalism will force them to behave. And, other than eliminating the free market and financing game writers and programmers to make art regardless of its marketability, the only other option seems to be to work within a culture that is open to considering nebulous, challenging ideas. So, smash capitalism or foster a more intellectual culture, simply having more diversity making games won’t matter if the people paying for it want a marketable game.

“We can’t be proud of what we are (as either people or as a people) *if* we’re telling anyone they can’t do what others can do.”

Kinda shooting myself in the foot with a massive message-ruining typo like that. My excuse: I rewrote that a million times.

I apologize!

Challenge the status quo, question the traditional gender roles, make people think. I can’t think of a better way to get to where we need to be as a race – accepting and open-minded. We can’t be proud of what we are (as either people or as a people) unless we’re telling anyone they can’t do what others can do.

Keep it up.

I just wanted to say that, although I agree Mass Effect’s approach to romance could certainly be critisised, the inclusion of “background” gay characters in ME3 seemed incredibly well-placed to me. I feel Bioware should be praised for not shoving it down everyone’s throats, as though it was some political statement to include gay characters. Give them their due in that regard! And while being gay inevitably does give certain people different perspectives on life, so does being born 10 years older or younger, having a private education, having 2 parents etc etc. For many people, these other factors may have a far wider influence on them. So I don’t see why ME3 characters should be discussing being gay and how it affects them, which is what I interpreted you as saying. I think that would in fact be counter-intuitive to what their placement represents. Seamless integration. Gay characters, as with people, shouldn’t be seen as different. For a lot of people, sexuality is not what defines them or their perspectives on life.

Jonathan

My pet fetish has always been 4X games, management games, and so on- and in this case, the ground has been thin pickings- a sim city there, and a civilisation here.

It’s in that case, that I really enjoy the current resurgance of indies due to things like the HIB, increased aviliability of development software (i.e. twine, gamemaker, flashdevelop, stuff like this), and of course, the alpha/kickstarter funding model.

I agree wholeheartedly that we need more diversity in the field- (not just in videogames, but in things like tech and science too- though this is another story.)
Like you said, the diversity of people is one way to break the cycle of the same sort of people making the same sort of games because they think the same sort of way about the same sort of things.

A few of my favourite indie games have been/are being developed by differently abled people- and I will welcome with open arms more and more of this diversity.

The question I want to ask is what you have to say about games made by LGBT developers that are not about relationships. Does the developer’s orientation or gender or race or religion still have an effect on the game, even when those are not the focus? You bring up Lim, which is an interesting example of what this might look like.

I ask because I want to make a video game. And I am gay. But I don’t (currently) have anything to say about romantic relationships. I like your presentation, but I don’t know where I fit in. “Indie” developers are doing amazing things, regardless of orientation, to counter the direction of AAA games. Do LGBT developers make different kinds of games? Can they make different kinds of platformers, different FPS’s, different open world games?

Yes, I agree that mainstream gaming is nothing but some big companies trying to grab the biggest sum of money they can so they cannot innovate or try anything different than the thing they did once in a lifetime that made their money. (The text has this to say about this notion: “straight white developers produce games [5] that straight white games journalists market to [6] straight white “gamers,” some of whom will be recruited to be the next generation of game developers and produce the next generation of the SAME VIDEOGAME for the next generation of straight white gamers.” – In my opinion is wrong. I’m the living proof that it’s wrong, but I’m actually going to provide a better counter point.) but that’s it. They aren’t doing because Gabe Newell or any other developter doesn’t care about the queers (English isn’t my first language so if “queers” is ofensive, I apologize) women, trans, or any group outside their target demographic, but their corporate culture.
See, they are pressured into doing the same game to the same people and ride that train until the cows go home. Why do you think the average gamer age went up? Because they are still chasing the same people, who happen to be straight white males. For in the corporate notion, were the ones that embraced their games (It’s their notion, I think it’s safe to say they are wrong no?).

Evidence is everywhere, the very fact we get yearly Call of Duties and other action games were you are this big white dude murdering the brown aliens mounth after mounth sends the message loud and clear: “We are afraid! Let’s play it safe.”.

No wonder it’s up for the small guys to explore this uncharted territory of different type of games, and while I find it inspiring, interesting and even beuatiful the initiative of making games about your experiences, your difficulties, I also find a bit weird claims such as: “my friend mattie brice wrote about this very thing: she argues that most straight games are interested only in the pursuit. once the girl (or if you’re playing a bioware game and you’ve hit the right checkbox, the boy) has been won over, the game stops being interested. whereas queer games tend to explore the actual dynamics within the relationship.”

Mass Effect is a bad game when it comes to human relationships. It’s the true. It sucks.
However there are straight games that are all about the relationship, and they don’t really end when one is formed. Then again most of the examples that come to me are Visual Novel porn games, making them in the Western independent developter discussion taboo.

My conclusion is that we should work together regardless of who we are to make good, interesting games, about any subject because the Mainstream is too scared to lose money to do so, not because who they are.