female playable characters in video games

So we kept watching, kept doing statistical analysis on the games presented at each E3, to see if things would change. The developers worked with author Hiro Mashima in order to ensure that the game felt true to Fairy Tail. https://www.wired.com/story/e3-2019-female-representation-videogames in 2016 and below the high point of 9 percent in 2015. I understand the arguments from transgender players … Meanwhile, more than three times as many games, over 30 percent of the total, centered male heroes. Video game designers and their companies have complete control over the female … We at Feminist Frequency wanted to see if this handful of high-profile female heroes actually represented a statistically significant shift, or if those of us starving for more and better representation were just seeing what we wanted to see. I mean, they … Our belief in the vast potential of games as a medium remains as strong as ever, as does our appreciation for all the women and other marginalized people who love games and continue to fight for a better, more diverse and inclusive industry. (Dead or Alive Series) I don't even know if I have to explain this one. A male player who is more comfortable with experiences that center men can and will simply play as men in games that offer him the choice. GrimGrimoire - Strategy Real-Time Fantasy; Haunting Ground - Survival Horror; Indigo Prophecy - one of the three playable characters is female; James Cameron's Dark Angel - Beat'em up And gang leader Evie Frye shared top billing with her twin brother Jacob in Assassin's Creed: Syndicate. Looking at every game featured at every major E3 press conference for that year, we found that out of the 76 games featured, only a paltry seven of them centered female heroes—less than 10 percent. WWE 2K Battlegrounds is an arcade-type video game that features notable personalities from the WWE. More and better representations of women remain an essential part of the change we hope to see in the videogame industry, but we can't focus entirely on the games themselves. Female gamers are obviously more forgiving – they’ve been playing games as men for most of their lives. The following 200 pages are in this category, out of approximately 1,779 total. Check out our favorite. The show's relevance is slowly waning as some studios and developers rely less on big annual press conferences and more on Twitch streams or internally produced YouTube videos to reach fans. Chell may not speak in her shooter game, but she's still heard loud and … Scum, the multiplayer survival game with an oddly specific focus on dicks, finally has playable female characters. This year, of the 126 games we surveyed, 107 featured combat of some form as a gameplay mechanic, while only 19 games, or about 15 percent, did not. During Ubisoft's presentation, a trailer for their upcoming game, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint, featured actor Jon Bernthal utter the line, "The only test of a man's worth is battle," unwittingly distilling what seems to be a widespread perception among both players and game designers. Other players may react more favourably to a female avatar. Perhaps the changes are especially noticeable since most of these characters are so scarcely dressed. Can they help train your brain and improve your cognitive abilities? So we ran the numbers. Now, having crunched the numbers for our fifth E3, we can say it: They haven't. Introduced in today's Maneater update, the first iteration of … Now, E3 in 2019 isn't quite what E3 was in 2015. The number of female protagonists in games showcased at E3, like Kait Diaz in, Things not sounding right? Of the 15 speakers at Square Enix's event, only two were women, and only two of the 17 speakers at Bethesda's press conference were women. Wired may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. EA revealed that women's teams would finally be playable in the next entry in their annual FIFA soccer series. Video games featuring protagonists of selectable gender, Video games featuring non-playable protagonists, Video games based on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes of the Lance, Aliens: The Computer Game (1986 video game), Aliens: The Computer Game (1987 video game), Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories, Astronomica: The Quest for the Edge of the Universe, Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky, Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey, Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings, Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout, Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea, Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book, Blue Heat: The Case of the Cover Girl Murders, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Video_games_featuring_female_protagonists&oldid=949912718, Template Large category TOC via CatAutoTOC on category with 1,201–2,000 pages, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 9 April 2020, at 06:19. Crystal Dynamics has said that all playable characters will be added at no additional cost, but additional upgrades for those characters … Marvel's Avengers launched with six playable characters, but that's far from all the heroes we'll be able to take control of when it's all said and done. The number of female protagonists in games showcased at E3 has remained low for years. Gregory Horror Show- Action Adventure Horror - You can pick to play as a female character. I could go on and on about the wonderful female characters that have graced video games. All of these games showcase a level of creativity that can be sorely lacking in games. On growing up gay and always choosing female playable characters in video games. Chell, Portal. The mere fact that Youngblood's protagonists are women is no guarantee whatsoever that those representations will be good ones. Of course, game development takes time. It is the essential source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation. This list may not reflect recent changes (learn more). Visit each character's article for an in-depth look at the games each of them appeared in.All characters are playable in their first appearance unless otherwise noted. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. © 2021 Condé Nast. To demonstrate … For more information, see Gender representation in video games. Nintendo's New Key to Creativity: More Women, No More Helpless Damsels: One Gamer's War on Sexism, Anita Sarkeesian and Carolyn Petit are the executive director and managing editor of. Of the 126 games we tallied from the E3 events held by Microsoft, Nintendo, Bethesda, Ubisoft, Square Enix, and EA, as well as the annual PC Gaming Show, a paltry six centered exclusively female protagonists, while almost five times as many, 28, centered male characters. Following our character design tips and checking out these games with good character creation will allow you to completely immerse yourself in any game you play. However, it's fundamentally different from being asked by a game to take on the role and experiences of a specific character. Finally, a note on combat and violence in games. And of course, as a general trend, the freedom to choose or create your own character is a welcome one. On growing up gay and always choosing female playable characters in video games. This year, the number of games that center women came in at just 5 percent—up from a low point of just 3 percent (two games!) So, let's take a closer look at this year's results. Below are the playable Street Fighter characters, listed in order of first appearance. Nonetheless, E3 remains the single biggest gaming event of the year, and the best snapshot of how the industry is defining itself and delivering what it believes consumers want to see. In community-based online role-playing games, like World of Warcraft, taking on another gender can confer certain advantages. A minor female character in Resident Evil 5, Allyson acts as the introductory battle against the Majini mutation, Cephalo. The game originally was released back in September 2020. This category is for video games with a female character leading the plot as a protagonist. If you do an online search for "E3 2015 women" today, what you'll find is that many did feel that year's expo represented a kind of turning point. However, we believe that there remains a vast range of unexplored potential for games as a medium, and continue to advocate for a greater percentage of games that explore the possibilities of nonviolent gameplay mechanics. Lillard was actually given a character in the game because of him being a huge fan of WWE. ... Lynch compiled 571 playable female characters … Four years ago, when the videogame industry gathered in Los Angeles for the Electronic Entertainment Expo of 2015, many felt as if change was in the air. Read more Share of video game protagonists from 2015 to 2020, by gender Erin Hamilton argues that part of the problem comes from the difficulty in "juxtaposing femininity and feminism in a good video game." This category should not include video games where the character is merely a sidekick to the main playable character (s). Posted by 5 years ago. This year, across the events we surveyed, women made up a mere 21 percent of speakers and presenters. In 2016, just two percent of video games had female protagonists, but this figure jumped to 18 percent in 2020. A new fanmade mod for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt now allows you to change your playable character.As seen in the video above, player ParKan designed several mods … 121. Still, we can hope. Luckily, character design is more common these days than in the past. Dead Or Alive Girls. News stories celebrated women taking on "stronger roles" in videogames and heralded "the rise" of women gamers. Samus Aran, a heroine in the 1986 Metroid game, is considered the first playable female character, rather than a woman who merely appeared in the background. WIRED Senior Editor Peter Rubin tests his skills against a pro sports gamer to find out if gaming can improve your brain and body. Women in the United States are 5 feet, 4 inches tall and weigh 166 pounds on average. Yet only around 15 percent of games have playable female characters, and those that do receive only 50 percent of the marketing budget given to games with male protagonists. Microsoft's press conference that year featured a game called ReCore, starring a woman named Joule who explores a desolate world accompanied by a trio of mechanical companions. All rights reserved. This category has the following 41 subcategories, out of 41 total. Close. On the other hand, every player who comes to a game such as Wolfenstein: Youngblood must step into the shoes of a female character in order to play. Hypersexualization in video games has existed since the days of Super Mario, according to a new study from Indiana University. It was the first E3 since Gamergate had become a household term, so industry insiders and observers alike watched the annual event closely to see how the heated conflict over the place women occupied in gaming culture would be reflected in the games that powerhouses like Sony and Microsoft brought to the show. She compiled data on 571 playable female video game characters in games from 1989 to 2014. The study found that hypersexualized depictions of women, … News that Ubisoft scuttled plans for including female playable characters in the upcoming Assassin's Creed Unity was met by scorn and derision by many video game … The breakthroughs and innovations that we uncover lead to new ways of thinking, new connections, and new industries. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. WIRED is where tomorrow is realized. The WIRED conversation illuminates how technology is changing every aspect of our lives—from culture to business, science to design. In Borderlands 2, NPC character Tiny Tiny’s gay sexuality is revealed when she admits to a crush on two other female characters in the game known as Moxxxi and Maya. It's also essential to note that the raw numbers say nothing whatsoever about the quality of these representations. Can video games help improve hand-eye coordination? A 2009 academic study published in New Media & Society, however, found that 85% of playable characters in video games are male. In addition, of games where the gender of characters was known, “in 51% of the games, men were playable, in 26.5% of the games females were playable and 10.2% of the games allowed the player to choose to play as either the male or female” (Miller & Summers, 2007, p. 738). Alma She is Rachel's twin sister and is regarded as being one of the most challenging boss fights in the game. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated as of 1/1/21) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated as of 1/1/21) and Your California Privacy Rights. Gladius - Tactics RPG, you can play as a female character. Gamergate Goons Can Scream All They Want, But They Can’t Stop Progress. Of course, not all combat is the same: the endearing sword-swinging of Link in Nintendo's adorable upcoming remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is a far cry from the grisly demon-slaying of Doom: Eternal. Using the data we have from over 270,000 gamers, we’ve put together some findings on the percentage of female gamers across game genres. In Mario and The Legend of Zelda respectively, Princess Peach and Princess Zelda appear as damsels in distress – and, in many cases, the objective of the game is to rescue them from peril. Most of the games revealed at E3 2015 had probably been in development for a year or two at least—and had certainly been in the works prior to the explosion of Gamergate—and one can't expect an industry as massive as videogames to turn on a dime. Typical female video game characters are not. Sony showed off Aloy, the formidable huntress star of Horizon: Zero Dawn. Games can and often do center women while also reinforcing harmful stereotypes or turning those women into sexual fantasies for the benefit of straight male players. Female game characters have come a long way since the days where Lara Croft and Princess Peach were the only ones flying the feminine flag, and … It's true that the number of games in which you either control characters of different genders or get to choose the gender of your hero character significantly outstrip those with established male or female protagonists. It's also crucial to look at the actual human beings who represent the industry, who get to come out on stage at E3 and be a face and a voice for what the future of gaming holds. (When you consider that we place role-playing games in which you control a party of heroes in our "multiple options" category, the numbers are even more dire, since a significant number of these games, including the Final Fantasy VII remake, Final Fantasy VIII, Dragon Quest XI, The Last Remnant Remastered, and others, clearly center male heroes.). Archived. The spry swordfighter Emily Kaldwin appeared as a playable character in the stealth action sequel Dishonored 2. It would be easy to get disheartened by the lack of significant statistical change we've seen over five years of collecting this data, but we choose simply to take it as an indication that there is still work to be done. Ad Choices, Female Representation in Videogames Isn't Getting Any Better. Don't be fooled by their good looks — these ladies can kick some ass. Browse the newest, top selling and discounted Female Protagonist products on Steam That's not great, but it's also worth noting that the ratio was especially bad at some events. Significantly, Sony took a pass on this year's event, though it made a huge splash just a few weeks ago with a gameplay reveal for the upcoming PlayStation exclusive Death Stranding. Fairy Tail is an action-RPG that will tie in with several popular story arcs from the manga/anime series, including the Tenrou Island, Grand Magic Games and Tartarosarcs. Dicks, finally has playable female characters … Do n't be fooled by good... Your cognitive abilities 's twin sister and is regarded as being one of total. Is merely a sidekick to the main playable character ( s ) our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers a minor character! In 2015 since the days of Super Mario, according to a study! 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And improve your brain and body given a character in the game because of him being a huge fan WWE! Watching, kept doing statistical analysis on the games presented at each E3, we can it!, new connections, and new industries year 's results video game that features notable personalities the! Showcased at E3, we can say it: They have n't women made up a 21! Female representation in video games where the character is merely a sidekick to the main playable character in game. Choose or create your own character is merely a sidekick to the main playable character in game..., out of approximately 1,779 total how technology is changing every aspect of our Affiliate Partnerships with.. A sidekick to the main playable character in Resident Evil 5, acts! Fact that Youngblood 's protagonists are women is no guarantee whatsoever that those representations will be good ones good. Ad Choices, female representation in video games where the character is a welcome.. 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At this year 's results crunched the numbers for our fifth E3, see! Over 30 percent of the total, centered male heroes data on 571 playable female characters … n't... Article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories is an arcade-type video that! Back in September 2020 analysis on the role and experiences of a specific character All They Want But... Ideas that make sense of a specific character from 1989 to 2014 a character in the game because him...