Danielle Burrell-Kim’s Dissertation Defence

Supervisory Committee:
Supervisor: Dr. Jennifer Jenson
Committee Members: Dr. Meike Wernicke and Dr. Derek Gladwin

Examiners:
University Examiners: Dr. Ron Darvin (LLED) and Dr. Janice Stewart (GRSJ)
External Examiner: Megan Condis (Texas Tech University)

Title of Dissertation:

FROM CODE TO CULTURE: EXAMINING THE DISPARITIES BETWEEN PLAYER EXPECTATIONS AND INDUSTRY PRACTICES IN THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY

Abstract:

Video games have continuously grown in popularity across a global market, marking them as significant cultural artifacts. And while video games have historically been framed as an exclusively masculine activity, global surveys have found players have and continue to come from increasingly diverse groups. Alongside this growth, issues of equity, diversity, inclusivity (EDI), and who is or is not represented in video games and the video game industry have become growing topics in both academic and public spheres. Simultaneously, the video game industry has seen a push and pull, toward and against inclusivity in games. As online trolls, hate groups, and enraged players take up loud, vocal positions against the inclusion of players and main characters who are not men, video games have maintained a reputation for the exclusion and harassment of anyone who is not a white, heteronormative man, leaving many to assume the loudest voices online are representative of the video game industry and cultures as a whole. This study examines this cultural struggle by highlighting the perspectives and desires of players and industry workers through two overarching questions: 1) How do game industry workers perceive EDI integration in video games? and 2) How do players describe recent EDI (or lack thereof) in video games? Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with eleven players and eleven industry workers from around the world. All player participants, regardless of identity or background, expressed a strong desire to see diverse characters and identities different than their own in games. The findings of this study illustrate that though industry worker and player participants largely shared the same goals and desires for more inclusive games, industry workers often found major obstacles when attempting to bring those desires to realization; importantly, they lacked data regarding who was playing their games and what those players desired, resulting in many workers shaping their ideas about player desires based on online forum posts and online harassment. Additionally, industry workers often faced upper management which vetoed the creation of more inclusive games as current industry practices often normalize oppression and build business models around a homogenous target audience.