For a variety of reasons, female presence in the gaming industry is a topic of regular discussion. Primary among them are the distinct and unique tastes and preferences of female gamers compared to their male counterparts. Gone are the days when women constituted only 8% of players who tried their poker hands. Online poker games, and any game for that matter, have opened up the ecosystem for female gamers.
With female gamers in India accounting for 44% of the total gaming community, it’s a no-brainer that game platforms must consider female gaming preferences. The types of games they prefer, their spending patterns, their average time spent, etc., are all important considerations for game developers. But what about female characters in games?
How Important are Female In-Game Characters?
The general perception would be that female representation in gaming is important as it adds a different perspective and challenge to the gamer. With gaming being a male bastion for a long time, characters, too, have been mostly male. With the gender gap closing, it is only natural for developers to be more inclusive when it comes to game titles.
While female characters are important, one cannot deny that the representation should be positive. Strong female characters with interesting complexities would add a diverse texture to many games. However, fragile characters or sexual objectification of characters can end up being seen as an unfair portrayal. An American study analysed the use of provocative dress and body features in in-game characters in popular game titles. Unfortunately, it concluded that 87.85% of all characters with such dress or body features were found to be female characters.
Similar studies have come to the same conclusion: female characters are sexually objectified in video games. Do note that even male characters are generally portrayed as alpha males with extensive armour, disproportionate weapons and muscular physique. However, male stereotypes are viewed in a better light compared to female stereotypes.
That said, video games are also going beyond the stereotypes when it comes to portraying female characters.
Stronger Feminine Portrayals in Video Games
An unfair portrayal of female characters is not much of a worry in a poker game app like Pocket52. Here, people are more focused on the poker hands, and any unfair portrayal would only act as a distraction. However, the same cannot be said for action, adventure, combat, and other such gaming categories. These game formats are heavily character-oriented.
However, there have been positive or at least mixed reactions to female portrayals in certain games. Take Lara Croft, for instance. Her short brown pants and skin-tight turquoise leotard were seen as a negative influence for girls when Lara burst into the scene in 1996. However, some would say that she was battle-ready, was more than a handful for the male antagonists, and symbolised girl power. Interestingly, the late 90s was also the heyday of girl power, with Spice Girls busting music charts across the world.
The popular video game Overwatch had Symmetra as one of the major characters. The character was a Hyderabad-based architect with light-bending powers. Her portrayal was a healthy mix of hi-tech gadgetry and traditional Indian elements. From the pages of Indian history, the Queen of Jhansi, Rani Lakshmi Bai, entered video game folklore with The Order: 1886. The meticulously designed character even used Hindi dialogues with other India-based characters in the game.
Indian princess Farah was another notable female character with a strong and important presence. Appearing in the Prince of Persia games, she had a major role in the title Sands of Time. Similarly, we had seen Kali, an Indian gunslinger in ‘Tom Clancy’s: Rainbow Six Siege’.
Breaking Stereotypes in India
Indian games are seemingly quite gender-conscious as well. The highly-billed AAA game Indus Battle Royale has a balanced character lineup with 13 male and 12 female characters. Its character, Heena, is inspired by champion pistol shooter Heena Sidhu. Morni, another character, is inspired by our national bird, Peacock. Mech Balika is a female robot character who is known for her combat skills.
Raji: An Ancient Epic goes one step further in female portrayal. Its titular character is the lead female in an action-adventure saga. Critics lauded the feminist recasting of Hindu mythology, while multiple award shows felicitated it during 2020-21. Although a commercial failure, the action game FAU-G had prominent female characters like Saya, the shadow princess. It was a strong character who was an assassin turned FAU-G with a knack for her lone fighting skills. These are good indications for the gender-conscious audience.
Gender Portrayal: Corrected
Although Indian AAA games are few and far between, female portrayal has been anything but stereotypical so far. Globally too, more and more games are revising their strategies when it comes to feminine character portrayals. The days of stereotypical depiction of female characters may eventually fade into oblivion. In the future, female presence is all set to be prominent on both sides of the gaming screen.