White by Default: an Examination of Race Portrayed by Character Creation Systems in Video Games

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White by Default: An Examination of Race Portrayed by Character Creation Systems in Video Games

A thesis submitted to the Graduate School

of the University of Cincinnati

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts

In the Department of Sociology of the College of Arts and Sciences

Samuel Oakley

B.A. Otterbein University

July 2019

Committee Chair: Dr. Littisha A. Bates, PhD

Abstract

Video games are utilized as a form of escapism by millions, thousands of hours are put in by multiple players every week. However, the opportunity to escape, and free oneself from societal scrutiny and biases like racism is limited within video games. Color-blind development and reaffirmation of gaming as a white male space limits the ability of players with marginalized identities to escape and enjoy games. A sample of character creation focused video games were analyzed to better understand if there was an impact of the White by Default character occurrence on the overall narrative, ludic (gameplay mechanics) and limitations or bonuses that could affect a player’s agency within a video game. This analysis includes The Sims 3 (freeform life simulator), Skyrim (fantasy roleplaying game), XCOM 2 (tactical science fiction), Tyranny

(tactical fantasy), and South Park: The Fractured but Whole (science fiction roleplaying game) all of which allow character creations. My findings suggest that character creation did not limit a player’s agency through the usage of race in character creation, but instead offered a chance for players to self-insert or correct negative stereotypes of color-blind racism in the games narrative.

Despite the agency offered to players, both narrative and ludic elements in character creation relied on whiteness as a raceless or default status, establishing a binary of white and Black through sliders, and reliance of “xenoface” to represent non-white races. I argue that unlike other visual media, video games provide players agency to rewrite stories around themselves, however due to an oversaturation of white male developers and their color-blind or blatantly racist perspectives, more steps must be taken to create more inclusive character creation systems.

Samuel Oakley

iii

Contents

Abstract iii

Contents iv

Tables v

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 5

I. Whiteness as a Default in Gaming; Player Demographics and Escapism 5

II. Race in Games and Designing based on “Familiarity” 8

III. The Need for Ludic Analysis 12

3. Data and Methods 15

I. Positionality 19

4. Analysis 21

i. Gaming and Color-Blind Ideologies 22

i. Gaming and Color-Blind Ideologies 24

ii. Narrative Racism and “Xenoface” 25

iii. Ludic and Ludonarrative Racism 28

5. Conclusion 31

References 34

Tables

Table 1: Race based Restrictions on Character Creation (p.22)

Table 2: Overall Racist Themes in Games (p.25)

Introduction

In early July 2019, Mordhau, a medieval combat simulator, added options for players to create women and alter the race/skin tone of their playable characters. Prior to this addition

Mordhau had been a game where you could only be a white man. This means of inclusion and self-representation was met with the Mordhau player base protesting that these changes were unrealistic and did not match the game’s setting. The push back came in the form of virtual harassment of game developers and players of color. These attacks were racist and sexist.

Mordhau’s development team first reacted to the outcry by offering to allow players to turn off these inclusive options. Proponents of inclusive gaming saw this move as backtracking on inclusion and erasure as a solution to pacify the racist player base (Hall 2019). The developers later issued an apology. Mordhau’s development team catered to their white male player base.

Video game developers immediately sought to cater to a white male voice with no regard of the harm they could be doing by erasing other identities and displayed their own biases and white centric design philosophies.

The white-centric characters of Mordhau and whiteness as a norm in gaming is nothing new to video game culture. Typically, a video game’s protagonists is the same muscular white man with brown-short hair and a beard. Like other forms of visual media there is a presentation of white men as the default, the only ones capable of being action heroes or saviors. The trope of the white-male default is a trope that extends from visual media like film or television to video games (Everett 2005, Malkowski and Russworm 2017). Video games offer a potential counter to the to the white-male-savior trope through the usage of character creation and self-insertion.

Instead of controlling another example of the same white man, players can be themselves or various fantasy creatures and humanoids as a form of self-expression. This work explores how

1 the agency to deviate from the normalized white male character is treated within a game.

Specifically, I ask, are there racially biased restrictions on a video game’s character creation systems, and could they restrict a player’s agency or ability to finish a game? I test this by examining single player games that provide character creation options. Further this paper is meant to provide examples of how to better understand the balance of player agency against problematic racial representation in video games.

Racial Representation in visual media like film has been a heavily examined topic. Prior research has emphasized either lack of representation or problematic representation with the presence of negative stereotypes (Bonilla-Silva 2014) or controlling images meant to reaffirm racial biases (Collins 1991). Visual media is often a medium where a story or experience is told and viewers are meant to react to what is presented to them. There are however more interactive forms of visual media like video games that not only allow someone to control how a story unravels, or what events occur, but also give individuals the opportunity to insert themselves within visual media. Instead of a story being simply told or shown to someone, video games offer players choices, agency, and influence on the progression of a narrative.

Video games may provide players the opportunity for agency, but just like other forms of visual media have long been associated with racism and problematic representation (Everett

2005, Malkowski and Russworm 2017). Vastly popular video game franchises like Grand Theft

Auto have been built on narratives and depictions of People of Color as criminals, homophobia and violence towards women (Hutchinson 2017). Despite being an interactive medium, video games still fall prey to similar tropes and controlling images (Collins 1991) presented in other forms of visual media. As Shaw (2014) points out, “In many ways, digital games seem to be the least progressive form of media representation, despite being one of the newest media forms.”

Video games can be a source of negative representation, and harmful stereotypes/imagery but players often find release and escapism within games (Shaw 2014). Video games offer an escape, form of de-stressing and entertainment to many People of Color (Kendall 2011, Shaw 2014).

Despite these harmful representations, gamers represent a wide array of identities. Women make up half of the overall player base (Juul 2010), while Black and Latinx men are also some of the most frequent players of games. Hutchinson (2017) argues that despite the negative stereotypes surrounding People of Color and criminality in the Grand Theft Auto series, players have the options and are often rewarded for doing altruistic takes like chores or firefighting within games.

There is negative representation, but players have control over whether they follow those narratives, and often will find rewards for creating their own within-game narrative.

The ability to control and be immersed within a story provides players of video games some agency on a narrative. They can take a game that at base level rewards criminal behavior and instead chose not to kill or assist others. The negative representation however is still present in the overall narrative and at some moment players need to engage with problematic narratives to complete a game. There are however exceptions to these rules, since there are many kinds of video games. While some games follow a strict story and only allow player agency to influence small changes in endings or dialogue others emphasize player agency and base their mechanics of gameplay and story on the variability of players. Players can create their own characters to potentially insert themselves to control the narratives of video games. The options and choices presented to players are still dependent on developers and designers that have often utilized negative stereotypes and controlling images. Even if a player can create their own character, is that character free from both the implicit and explicit racism in visual media? Do agentic form of

3 media like video game character creation provide opportunities to dismantle or resist existing negative stereotypes and controlled images?

Shaw (2014) suggests using methods of narrative and gameplay examination to differentiate game studies from other media. This research utilizes Shaw’s suggested qualitative media analysis to examine a sample of video games’ handling of race selection and character design. By examining video games and utilizing media analysis theory and practices in sociology, I expand gaming research, and contribute to work within sociology of media. Since video games are a multi-billion-dollar industry that attracts hundreds of millions of players and even spectators, there is a dire need to develop and expand upon racial representation research in video games (Juul 2010, Malkowski and Russworm 2017, Shaw 2014, Taylor 2018).

This paper examines the balance of representation and player agency in video games that emphasizes choice and self-insertion using character creation systems. There is a gap in the literature on video game design and racial representation, and examining video games from a ludic1, gameplay and mechanics, perspective. Therefore, this work fills that gap by providing examples of how video game analysis needs to be treated differently from other media studies due to the emphasis of agency given to players in games. My findings suggest that racism is present in the examined games. Aside from the occasional dialogue, or starting options, the race of created characters had no bearing on the overall gameplay and story of a video game. A game is reliant on agency to keep a player interested, and within this sample of single-player games that emphasize freedom and character creation, (Tyranny, The Sims 3, Skyrim, XCOM 2 and

South Park: the Fractured but Whole) agency and overall gameplay was never radically or

1 Ludic refers to designed rules, gameplay, the option s and methods given to players progresses from point A to B

4 detrimentally affected by the race of a created character, despite one game claiming it does

(South Park: the Fractured but Whole). I argue that video game analysis needs to include the examination of both the narrative (story, setting, world/universe) against the ludic elements

(gameplay, player options and control, agency).

Literature Review

Whiteness as a Default in Gaming; Player Demographics and Escapism

Given their proximity to technology, advertisement and marketing the “gamer” or “nerd” identity has become synonymous with white males allowing them to become gatekeepers in these spaces in the United States (Kendall 2011). “Gamers” are individuals that spend time or place a priority on engaging with video game culture, and frequently play games (Juul 2010).

Video games were originally targeted towards the financially privileged and modern games require access to longer individual periods of leisure time to maintain an insider status as a

“gamer” (Juul 2010). Early American video game developers were privileged white men with access to computers, as game developers they made an experience tailored to their own demographic of white males (Everett 2005, Juul 2010). The cycle of white men maintaining a dominant status in video gaming hinges on the gatekeeping and acceptability of their “gamer” status, since they can easily grasp and then maintain an insider status. Game Development in the

United States is dominated by white men who have tailored the products and by proxy the culture of gaming towards their own vision (Condis 2016, Schulte, Carsten and Knobelsdorf

2007). What games are developed and what is possible in game play hinges on the white male imagination.

One of the primary methods of presenting video games as a white male space and activity is through the designs of both characters and narratives. Despite the frequency that video games

5 are produced and the fact that they are a global industry we generally see more of the same in terms of narratives and character creation. Like other visual media, video games tend to focus on white savior narratives, and almost always have the same default main character of a mid-20s to

30s white male with brown hair (Malkowski and Russworm 2017, Shaw 2014). Video games with main characters of Color or Women as protagonists are treated by developers as novelty or divergent from the industry standard (Everett 2005). These characters are often treated as an oversexualized reward for players and given stereotype-based costumes indicative of their ethnicity or country of origin, like a zebra skin bikini for an African woman (Brock 2011, Everett

2005, Malkowski and Russworm 2017 chapter). The attitude and culture of emphasizing white male narratives in video games is emblematic of a larger cultural issue in the United States, one that sees the white male experience as the norm (Bonilla-Silva 2014).

In the United States white men may dominate game development, but the demographics of players paint a different picture of the player bases. DiSalvo and Bruckman (2010) found that

Black and Hispanic men play more daily hours of video games than any other group. Juul’s work is (2010) grounded on the fact that women make up half the overall gaming player base. Women are ostracized or delegitimized from “gamer” culture though for the preference in life simulation games, mobile games, and non-competitive games/play styles referred to as casual games (Juul

2010, Paaßen, Morgenroth and Stratemeyer 2017). Black and Hispanic men also make up a large demographic of the gaming population (Di Salvo and Bruckman). When they are represented in games it is through the color-blind perspective of White male developers and writers

(Hutchinson 2017, Malkowski and Russworm 2017, Bonilla-Silva 2014) that vilifies them, or reduces their identities to gang stereotypes. The non-white male narrative in video games tends

6 to be one of romantic interest or sex appeal from women, and criminals or one-dimensional stereotypes for Black and Hispanic men.

Video games are another venue where the default white male experience has been promoted and maintained (Kendall 2011). Since white men have historically dominated the technology and computer science fields in the United States, their standard experience and likeness serves as templates for character design, world building, narrative, and game design.

Tailoring the video game industry to white men and their leisure habits and monetary privilege is a failing on the video game industry to recognize player demographics and expand opportunities for Women and People of Color to tell compelling stories and be treated as insiders within video games. Those who require positive media representation within video games are denied it, and the developers and white male player base lack awareness of the issue. According to Shaw’s

(2014) interviews with a white “gamer”;

Rusty asserted that he did not think much about whether he identified with characters or representation. “I just kind of know who I am, and that’s the only thinking I do about that.” In part, he tied this to the fact that he saw himself as boring and viewed games as a way to escape, rather than find, himself: “I’m white; I’m boring [laughs].” P. 153

Rusty views himself in a state of default or normalcy due to being white and writes off his video game experience as raceless or standard (Bonilla-Silva 2014). Shaw also interviewed Gregory, a

Gay and Black man. To Gregory video games weren’t just mindless fun, but a method to escape.

According to Shaw, “He told me that he played video games in part because spending time outside ran the risk of police harassment” p. 153. To Gregory there is no apathy in his player experience. While both Rusty Gregory use video games to escape they are escaping very different things. For Gregory, he is seeking escape from a world that places a target on his back, while Rusty seems to just want enjoyment to disrupt boredom. For Gregory representation was a desired experience, “He stated very specifically, “[Seeing people like me in media] shows that

I’m being heard and seen, and I’m being acknowledged and I’m here.” P. 153. There’s a desperation in Gregory’s response to be recognized and welcomed, even in virtual spaces and visual media like video games.

While a Rusty (white men) seemed more concerned with seeking a power fantasy and sense of enjoyment through escapism, video games served as a reprieve for Gregory (a Black and

Gay man). The escapism video games are designed to offer is more than a power fantasy or saving a kingdom, it is a chance to belong in a world that treats you as a problem, amendment or periphery. If this is the case what happens when the source of escapism becomes a unwelcomed space for People of Color?

Race in Games and Designing based on “Familiarity”

Whiteness is a default to video game developers (Shaw 2014, Everett 2005, Malkowski and Russworm 2017). The emphasis on the white player’s experience, and story of white saviors is historically nothing new to video games. While contemporary developers might claim to be more sensitive and concerned with representation, previous racist and stereotypical imagery still permeates video games (Malkowski and Russworm 2017). Shaw (2014) even went so far as to call them the “least progressive” form of media.

While there are egregious examples of racist video games like Ethnic Cleansing 2made by a white supremacist group, most games operate more under the color-blind racism model of

Bonilla-Silva (2014). Not blatant white supremacy but instead proliferate ideologies Bonilla-

Silva defined as:

They are expressions at the symbolic level of the fact of dominance. As such, the ideologies of the powerful are central in the production and reinforcement of the status quo. They comfort rulers and charm the ruled much like an Indian snake handler.

2 Ethnic Cleansing was created and published by neo-nazi and white supremacists. Out of refusal to give those groups a potential audience they will not be formally cited.

Whereas rulers receive solace by believing they are not involved in the terrible ordeal of creating and maintaining inequality, the ruled are charmed by hegemonic ideology. P.74

The “comfort” Bonilla-Silva describes reinforces the idea that there is no problem with a lack of racial representation in games. Closed group-oriented hegemonic thinking amongst the dominant, or white developers becomes the common discourse on the issues of race in games.

They will claim that they personally have no bias but then jump through hoops to rationalize why the main character of high-budget video games are the same generic-looking white men (Bonilla-

Silva 2014, Everett 2005, Kendall 2011). White male video game developers will place themselves at the center of a video game targeted at white men.

Unlike more explicate racism, this is based on the education and mentality of video game design to base narrative and ludic elements on the “familiar” or common-sense practices (de Mul

2005). The earliest steps of creating a video game involves the formulation of the narrative and ludic elements through a process called mimesis that de Mul (2005) describes as:

Connected with the narrative prefiguration of our daily life. In Ricoeur’s view this lies in the practical knowledge that guides our action. We experience our dealings with our fellow humans in terms of meanings: we distinguish motives and interests, we set standards and ascribe values, we attempt to realize certain ideals in life. Therefore in a certain sense our actions already contain an implicit narrative. P. 254

A video game developer imbues the games narrative and ludic elements with the motives, interests, standards and values. Any action taking contains some degree of motivation based on personal values or understandings of the world. Regarding game development, de Mul (2005) claimed that video games require a basis of real life and the developer’s experience. Mimesis in video game development is making sure that there is an imitation or representation of comprehendible narrative and mechanics. At their base games needs to have some sort of relatable narrative and setting, or at least aspects that make sense to the audience. Despite being in fantasy or science fiction settings, ultimately video games tend to be comprehensible stories of

9 human resilience, struggle, and labor (de Mul 2005). From a ludic/gameplay perspective, mimesis provides the basic actions and skills involved with the video game. Players will drive, manage money and resources and interact with others. These mimetic themes and inspiration are then given substance through the implementation of dramaturgical elements. A player is given a character or role to perform in relation to the video games narrative and non-player characters

(NPCs). A stage is filled with actors and a setting. Finally, there is identification and narrative construction targeted at the self, or engaging players to become immersed and identify with a story. A video game will surround players with familiar elements, give them a role within the world, and then provide some sort of relatable reason for attachment and self-identification. This can be as simple as a power fantasy like Doom (2016), where you are a sole human that needs to kill demons to save the world, or more complex stories like Life is Strange (2015) where you interact with NPCs and primarily deal with societal and emotional relationships as a pseudo- blank slate character whose personality changes with player actions. The aim of the mimesis design concept is always the same, make the player feel involved with the video game and part of the story and narrative by blending in aspects of life to engage and hook the player (de Mul

2005, Raessens and Goldstein 2005).

Mimesis in game development (de Mul 2005) provides an opportunity for a variety of stories to be told. However, the issue of color-blind racism comes from the minds building the mimetic narratives, white men. Developers are creating video games where whiteness is a default, and other forms of race within their games can become stereotypes or more representative of controlling images. According to Collins (1991), “Because the authority to define societal values is a major instrument of power, elite groups, in exercising power, manipulate ideas about Black womanhood. They do so by exploiting already existing symbols or

10 creating new ones” (P.69). This translates to video games in that, in previous video games this was often done by utilization of stereotypes through names or design. For instance, fighting games have white characters with actual names but other countries or races stereotypically named or are clear stereotypes (Everett 2005). For example, characters from Africa are often shown wearing animal fur, or a character from India will be a yoga master. In these instances of stereotypes their names will also be puns tied to their country of origin, like Great Tiger or Bob

Charlie (Super Punch Out). There are also more blatant examples in the form of the Grand Theft

Auto franchise, one of the most successful franchises in video game history that has always been spearheaded by white men but sells itself on the stereotypes and controlling images connecting

Black, Latino and Asian people to criminality, gang violence, and homophobia. These images allow for what Everett (2005) calls “high-tech blackface”, providing white players entertainment using a white perspective on racialized experiences. The mimesis of games like Grand Theft

Auto utilize controlling images to enthrall and engage white audiences.

Grand Theft Auto as a series is symbolic of modern interpretations and more direct and explicit racist stereotypes and controlling images (Hutchinson 2017). Fantasy and science fiction games exist outside of the traditional modern setting, and instead mask existing stereotypes using a process called “xenoface” (Russell 2018) as part of a racial masquerade. In visual media,

“xenoface” refers to using non-white, primarily Black or Asian actors as extra-terrestrial, or magical beings. The use of “xenoface” ties back to Bonilla-Silva’s (2014) analysis of colorblind racism, where whiteness is treated as a default or emblematic of human. This trope is originally tied to dehumanizing of other races and became utilized in fantasy and science-fiction literature and moved to visual media. One of the most influential usages of xenofacing in literature was done by Tolkien in the creation of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings where the antagonistic orcs

11 were given features associated with the historical depiction of “the negroid” (Raerick 2004). The orcs are a literal dehumanization of Black people by using a eugenics-based 3stereotypical appearance. Tolkien’s literary influence and depictions of race influenced video game developers and has become the foundation in a multitude of fantasy games. Like Tolkien’s books, whiteness is inherently a human or higher-being trait. World of Warcraft, one of the most popular and recognizable multiplayer video games utilizes almost the exact same races as Tolkien, where humans are placed as a default white race compared to the other xenoraces (Pace 2008).

Narrative mechanics of video games are filled with horrendous and problematic examples of racial representation. White developers have created a history and culture based on their either color-blind or explicitly racist perspectives (Kendall 2011, Condis 2016). Unlike other visual media, video games have ludic and ludonarrative mechanics that need examination. Even when a game is utilizing “xenoface” and controlling images to perpetuate stereotypes and marginalize

People of Color, a single player game with a character creator can provide an escape through self-insertion and self-representation within a video game (Shaw 2014, Everett 2005). Players like Gregory still find solace within video games despite the problematic history and abundance of negative representation. The agency of players is dependent on the ludic and gameplay mechanics of a video game, therefore, understanding the balance of narrative, ludic and ludonarrative elements (Bissell 2010) could help improve video games and better tailor them to a more inclusive and diverse audience.

The Need for Ludic Analysis

Both whiteness as a default experience and the emblematic human race is present in video games. Depictions of non-white races tends to rely on stereotypes, controlled images or

3 Eugenics-based refers to the attempts to dehumanize other races (Haney-Lopez 1996) in the legal construction of race. Skull shape, flat nose, large brows were used to criminalize and dehumanize populations to excuse slavery.

“xenoface” at times to purely entertain white players. (Malkowski and Russworm 2017, Everett

2005, Russell 2018). However, the presence and usage of these depictions is usually more based in the narrative of a game. Watching the same movie more than once may elicit different responses from the movie goer each time but the ending of the movie won’t change. Unlike the movie goer the gamers actually impact the “ending”, this make video games unlike other forms of visual media. Video games have an inherently different form of agency (citation) in how players participate in and influence the narrative of a game. The agency of a player comes from what is called gameplay or the ludic elements. Instead of just watching Mario eat mushrooms and jump around, a player is the one who reacts and decides how Mario proceeds through a level, meaning that there are as many permutations of experience with video games as there are players (Raessens and Goldstein 2005). Since there is such a variation in possible experiences, video games cannot be treated the same as other visual media.

While there can be a readily visible level of racism through stereotypes, “xenofacing”, or controlling images, some players can still find escapism, enjoyment and positive representation.

This can be done primarily from the ludic elements that grant players greater agency over a video game’s narrative and their experiences in game. Based on Shaw’s (2014) work, one of the most agentic ludic mechanic is the character creation systems. Character creators, as the name implies, allow players to create either a personal representation or a completely original player character to progress through a video game. Character creators provide an opportunity for developers to give anyone some form of representation or experience escapism through fantasy character races

(McArthur and Jenson 2014). From a design perspective character creation even contributes to the dramaturgical and engagement process of mimesis since a player can quite literally insert themselves into the narrative and action of the game.

As players create characters there can be a greater concern over making choices and decisions for the sake of victory instead of focusing on self-representation (Shaw 2014).

Depending on the game, a player may be more concerned with winning than cosmetic options, or the opportunity to self-insert. In some of Shaw’s (2014) interviews players even suggested they were not thinking about self-insertion, they just wanted to win the game. In Hutchinson’s (2017) work on the Grand Theft Auto series, she argued that despite the negative stereotypes, player choices ultimately can decide actions and by choosing benevolent missions, players can be rewarded more than just being a criminal. Video games offer more than one way to navigate through a story through their ludic and ludonarrative elements. Shaw (2014) called for a greater examination of ludic elements in relation to narrative ones when discussing character creation. It is one thing if the origins of selectable races came from “xenoface” origins, a player might still find some representation and enjoyment from them. The issue comes from the concept of winning or completion of the video game and if there are advantages and disadvantages built into ludic components of games that restrict player agency.

This paper explores the relationship between winning, narrative and player agency. Shaw

(2014) and Hutchinson (2017) call and argue for a better understanding of the balance of narrative, ludic and ludonarrative elements of games. In their research players had the potential to subvert racist narratives through ludic and ludonarrative elements using their agency. The agency a player has to self-insert and alter a story based on their gameplay decisions could alter their experience in dealing with the color-blind coding of video games. Character creation is one of the most agentic options available to players (Pace 2008, de Mul 2005, Shaw 2014). The opportunities or lack thereof given to players needs to be given a larger spotlight and better

14 understood. Which leads to the question, how does the player’s agency in character creation affect their ability to complete a game?

Data and Methods

This paper is an examination of the agency that comes with character creation and the potential of self-representation and insertion within a game. While some games might allow agency on how you progress through a story or challenge you still need to be a predetermined character and experience that character’s narrative. Character creation adds a ludic element and chance to self-insert and create your own story or experience within a game’s narrative. I utilize

Hutchinson’s (2017) examination of ludonarrative in games where players have options and agency within a game to tailor their experience. This paper explores the balance of player agency with an already existing ludonarrative in a game, with an emphasis on the depictions of race.

Instances of dialogue or game events happening that are dependent on character creation was recorded using screenshots and notes. The purpose of this was to see how much my agency as a player affects the games ludic and narrative elements, and what influence I had on the ludic, narrative and ludonarrative elements. Do agentic forms of media like video game character creation provide opportunities to dismantle or resist existing negative stereotypes and controlled images?

To collect data on the character creation systems and the effects on gameplay a purposive sample of games was selected and played. To have access to a more diverse pool of video games, the PC format and the Steam© was chosen as a sampling frame for video games since it can be run on any Windows©, Apple© or Linux© computer, and has hundreds of thousands of games available for immediate download and purchase. To be included in the sample all games needed to have some form of character creation system that allows players to make an avatar or form of

15 self-chosen representation within a video game. Multi-player or cooperative video games were excluded as the player experience and rules involving race and character creation can be altered by outside interactions, the community, competition, or patching and updates of the video game.

To avoid any potential for community or outside influence on the video game and player experience mods or modifications were not installed or active on the sampled games. In addition to limiting my sample to single player modification free games, I only included games where you play as some form of humanoid or anthropomorphized creature. This was done to avoid comparing non-human creatures to “xenoface” and human based or inspired races.

Based on these selection criteria, I chose five games:

• Skyrim a fantasy roleplaying game about a war torn and racially divided country

threatened by dragons. A high-fantasy game that has a world based on racial hierarchies

and politics that influence initial character choices and the game narrative. Traits and

talents are associated with starting race, for example, Orcs and Nords are good at

fighting.

• Tyranny a fantasy strategy game where the player leads a military unit and makes

political decision to advance a tyrant’s influence on a country. Players create a primary

character but then can recruit and control other characters in combat.

• South Park: The Fractured but Whole a satirical science-fiction roleplaying game about

children pretending to be super heroes and fighting other people, A satirical game was

picked for this project was because of a media response when it was revealed that

character race was likened to a difficulty option within game, white being easy and Black

being difficult (Schreier 2017).

• The Sims 3 a free-control life simulator game. This was picked to act as a control for the

rest of the sample since it is lacking a formal game narrative, a written story and universe,

and instead is progressed purely on player choices and creative decisions on settings.

The ludic (gameplay and rules) elements of The Sims 3 are the narrative elements, since

the player can control all game aspects.

• XCOM 2 a science fiction strategy game about controlling military units to fight alien

invaders. Instead of a single character, the player can create multiple characters to control

as soldiers.

I began by individually booting each game, and starting a new game, or in the case of

XCOM 2, going to the character creation menu before starting a new game. Then each video game was played up to five hours for the sake of examining passed tutorials or beginning areas where events might be more heavily scripted and constrained compared to the rest of the games.

I approached each game as a player, following the tutorial and eventually narrative prompting to engage in different actions. Tyranny and XCOM 2 were very scripted and individual levels where you would control your personal character and other game generated characters against enemy units or characters. Skyrim and The Fractured but Whole were based more on an open world design, there were initial tutorials in singular locations but then the games encouraged me to explore, take side quests, and find secrets. After character creation The Sims 3 was pure player choice, I began making cosmetic changes to a house, guiding my sim (player character) around, having interactions with other Sims (non-player characters).

To test the influence of selected race in a single-player video game experience, different characters of different races, were created or console commands (program commands that can immediately change player characters, create items, alter game values and programing) were

17 used to make alterations to other races or reset events to experience different outcomes. During gameplay I collected screenshots of character creation menus and instances of dialogue or events that are dependent on character race and stored them on my PC. I recorded elements of similarity or difference between the sampled video games both during and after playtime (Clarke and

Braun 2013). Elements I focused on were the default whiteness in character creation, explicit racism against a player character, racism in the game’s world and narrative, reinforcement of the

Black and white binary (Haney-Lopez 1996) in character creation systems with the usage of ludic and narrative components.

My analysis is based on Hutchinson’s (2017) methods on the analysis of Grand Theft

Auto as both a franchise and singular games. Hutchinson recognized the blatant problematic elements of the Grand Theft Auto franchise since it is built around committing violent and criminal behavior and they have historically focused on People of Color as central protagonist and antagonists waging gang wars. Hutchinson argued that while the narrative and ludic elements of the franchise often push People of Color into the role of criminals, GTA San Andreas rewards the player more for having their character engage in philanthropic or helpful behavior through firefighting. Also, Hutchinson argues that the San Andreas narrative focused on subverting racist ideology of People of Colors as criminals or belonging in gangs. Hutchinson analyzed with consideration of both elements of narrative and ludic game components, to make a judgement on the overall ludonarrative (Bissell 2010). The ludonarrative is the intersection of narrative and gameplay elements, like a fantasy race has an ability or associated trait because of an in-game event, or an enemies’ weakness and methods of attack is built into the overall narrative of the game. In the case of Hutchinson’s research, GTA San Andreas tries to push players into making benevolent choices and missions while interrogating and dismantling racial

18 narratives of criminality. What Hutchinson did by examining the overall balance of ludic and narrative elements is what Shaw (2014) argues is necessary with all video game analysis.

Positionality

Since this paper is based on the assumption that video games need to be treated differently as research objects from other media materials due to the agency and choices given to players, I am in a very agentic and privileged position within video game communities that allowed me to conduct this research. Research was conducted on a higher performance PC that has been modified and built over five years. Since I have been playing video games for 20+ years, try to maintain a connection to the culture and recent events of video games, and primarily use the PC platform which gives access to a large amount and diversity of games, I have a developed insider status with the culture of video games and the communities. This insider status sparked my interest and development of this research. My insider knowledge then helped to inform the decisions and sample selection since I considered public outcry or community news, knowledge of game franchises, familiarity with sampled games prior to the study. Only one of the sampled games, Skyrim, had any playtime prior to this research since I have owned it since

2012. My familiarity with Skyrim’s narrative and racial hierarchy informed my decision to select it for this research.

While there are examples that relate to Collins’ (1991) controlling images, and even a color-blind racism as described by Bonilla-Silva (2014), players of video games still have the opportunity and an overall lack of limitation influencing their choices and progress. When racism became most apparent in these games it was scripted dialogue, or meant to be satire, that had little if any influence on overall gameplay. However, the importance and impact of this racism on me as a player is limited since as a white man in the United States, I have no personal

19 experience recognizing or sympathizing with immediate and blatant racism directed at myself. I instead need to utilize existing media analysis models and critical race theory for the sake of comparison. My analysis suggests that the racism within games has little effect on gameplay or player options. Shaw (2014) provided examples of when People of Color felt disconnected or sympathetic because of racism existing in video games. My racial background itself is a limitation, since I lack the cultural knowledge and status to be triggered or immediately recognize racial targeting in games. Even with the overall presence of player agency being what separates video games from other media, I recognize and encourage critique and views that can make up for my distanced and analytical dissection of these games using theory. However, I assert my insider status and familiarity with video games as research material.

Overall, this research is meant to follow the example of Hutchinson’s (2017) Grand Theft

Auto© analysis, while progressing the field of visual media analysis according to Shaw’s (2014) arguments of examining ludic and narrative elements of video games. While there are improvements to be made like expanding the video game sample and including multiplayer games, this project is meant to be a contribution to video game analyses frameworks and methods for examining ludic and narrative elements. The overall limitation of this research is that it is relatively new, and trial and error is required to further the place of video games in the sociology of media analysis and popular culture. This research is one of many necessary steps to further develop the sociology of media and popular culture.

Analysis

While originally this project was meant to see if there were bonuses or restrictions4 associated with racial options in video games, ultimately in the sample of single player games racial options had no lasting effect on a player’s ability to finish a game. To put it simply, the color of Mario has no effect on completing a level. However, that is not to say that race did not matter or mean anything within game. While there were no lasting effects on a player’s experience there were immediate ones that could ultimately influence a player’s decision on the race of their character. Although race/skin tone does not impact the character’s ability to complete a game or level, I do find that the options in the character creation menu reaffirm a color-blind ideology (Bonilla-Silva 2014). In addition to color-blind ideology being present in character creation, it also became evident that it was pervasive throughout narrative, ludic and ludonarrative elements. (Pace 2008, Bissel 2010, Malkowski and Russworm 2017).

These findings are organized in two major sections. The first covers the presence of options for character creation and the potential implications of those options. The second explores how the games utilize a color-blind ideology to adhere to or detract from the use of narrative, ludic and ludonarrative racism. Color-blind racism was demonstrated in this sample of games through “xenoface” (Pace 2008) of non-white races in Skyrim and XCOM 2, campaign and world narratives of xenophobia and nativism in Skyrim, Fractured but Whole and XCOM 2

And the absence of race altogether in The Sims 3 and Tyranny.

4 Bonuses and Restrictions refer to starting traits, stats and talents of races in gameplay

Color Blind Ideology in Character Creation

Table 1 details the various race/skin 5tone options available for character creation. It is possible for games with character creation systems to use a randomize button to randomize the player’s character from the beginning. Instead of a default or featureless character, a game using randomization will show a player character with random settings in race or skin tone, facial features, hair and clothing. In two (Fractured but Whole, Skyrim) of the five games the player’s original character begins as a white man and forego randomization (see Table 1). While there was the option to randomize in each game during the character creation process, only three of them would begin with a randomized character (Sims 3, Tyranny, XCOM 2). In Skyrim and The

Fractured but Whole randomization was optional for the players. But did not occur when the character creation menu first opened.

Table 1

The Fractured XCOM Skyrim Sims 3 but Whole Tyranny 2 Randomization X X X Binary Sliders X X X Use of Race X X X Restrictions on hair/facial features X X Restrictions on skin tone/color X X

The term “race” in character creation was only used in Skyrim, The Fractured but Whole and XCOM 2. In Skyrim and XCOM 2, race was used in the initial selection of character

5 Some games explicitly use the term race, other just have skin color and tone and it is implied to be synonymous. For this reason, they are used interchangeably

22 characteristics. For Skyrim it was picking between more ethnicity based divisions (country or region of origin), fantasy/”xenoface” races (Pace 2008), and deciding on initial values of talents, skills and bonuses. After the selection of race, players could then pick skin tone/color. XCOM 2 also had an initial race selector that led into skin tone/color. In both games there were some restrictions on what skin tone/color could be chosen based on the chosen race. In Skyrim you could be a Nord or Imperial which are default white races, you could also choose to have dark brown skin tone/colors. The “xenoface” races like Orcs instead were restricted to darker skin.

XCOM 2’s listed options after race selection was skin color, however the options were merely a shade gradient. In The Fractured but Whole, player always had the options to change skin color and eventually race. Race was an option unlocked after several hours of gameplay by following an in-game prompting and mission, and you could pick any race or ethnicity without restriction based on skin color. All character creation options in The Fractured but Whole were changeable at any time out of combat or cutscenes (cinematics or purely visual elements) in game.

In each character creation system you were immediately capable of changing your character’s race or skin tone. All but two of the video games (Tyranny and XCOM 2) had a slider and color gradient for skin tone or race. Tyranny had five skin tone/color options, 6 set up in a gradient row from white to dark brown skin. XCOM 2 had four explicitly stated race options, ranging from zero to three. The race zero seemed to be an attempt at a raceless option, but when selected it just showed a bright white skinned character. Races one to three had darker skin tones, but there were no immediate visual differences. After the selection of a race option in XCOM 2 you could then pick a skin color from a list of seven choices that only would add a tint or tone change to the character’s skin. The darker races, one to three, had darker options for skin color

6 Although these are referred to as racial categories the gradient mimics how we socially see racial categories

23 than race zero. This was a more limiting creation as opposed to the use of the gradient slider in the other sampled video games.

The skin color or tone options were emblematic of Bonilla-Silva’s (2014) color-blind racism and the construction of the white and Black binary (Haney-Lopez 1996). Even when there was a randomizer race or skin tone options still established a gradient putting dark brown or

Black skin in contrast to white. Whiteness was categorized as race zero, a raceless or null option, in XCOM 2. Other racial options are set as a periphery or outside of the norm of whiteness. In the instances of Skyrim and the Fractured but Whole there were descriptions involving the selectable races to almost dissuade you from selecting a non-white race7. The Sims 3 utilized a gradient skin color slider, but still had a randomizer and is a game about building a world and relationships for the sake of your own narrative and vision. Tyranny had a randomizer and lacked a gradient slider for skin color but instead just had five options of vary skin colors/tones. Whiteness or light skin is coded or treated as a null or zero option in all the sampled games using a gradient or limited selectable options. The utilization of whiteness based on my analysis of character creation is parallel to the way we see whiteness in our society. Since millions of individuals are playing these video games and engaging in this color-blind gaming culture it is imperative to better understand the options given to players for inclusion juxtaposed with the narrative, ludic and ludonarrative elements within video games.

Gaming and Color-Blind Ideologies

The usage of language in the game’s options are another example of color-blind racism

(Bonilla-Silva 2014) in video game design. In The Sim 3 as a concept was non-existent outside of potentially player ascribed narrative or meaning to skin color. The only narrative and world

7 An in game character’s voice would tell you darker skin means your life is more difficult.

24 detail elements of The Sims 3 were completely dependent on the player’s decisions making it lack a pre-programmed narrative, ludic, or ludonarrative elements for racism to be performed towards or at the players (See Figure A). Tyranny was filled with a deep narrative involving warring tribes and militaries based on regions, religions and politics, there was no explicit statement on race in the narrative, ludic or ludonarrative elements (see Table 2), and race or skin color meant nothing to the other world details. While it is admirable to want to make a story inclusive, and dependent on a player’s choices the lack of race entirely borders on color-blind racism, especially when there are tribal politics and imperialism in a game like Tyranny. The exclusion of race is not the solution to racism.

Table 2

Fractured Skyrim but Whole Tyranny XCOM 2 Sims 3

Narrative racism X X X Ludic Racism X X Ludonarrative Racism X X "xenoface" X X

Narrative Racism and “Xenoface”

Despite the freedom and openness to player choices in three of five of the sampled games. Treatment of whiteness as a default is supported by the mimesis principles of game development (de Mul 2005). White developers have assigned their race as a default or state of racelessness while placing others on the periphery or divergent (Bonilla-Silva 2014). For white video game developers, whiteness is a null that is the reality they view and what they code in video games. In the sample of games there were other more egregious presentations of race.

Skyrim and XCOM 2 offered the most extreme displays of programmer’s color-blind racism

(Bonilla-Silva 2014) and “xenoface” (Pace 2008) in their narrative elements (see Table 2).

Skyrim’s narrative and gameplay focuses on warring factions based on racial relations, imperialism and nativism. The primary race faction of Skyrim are the Nords, who are a facsimile for Nordic or Scandinavian people. Skyrim as a country draws heavy inspiration from Viking culture, the snowy mountains and Viking iconography, the game even mimicking Viking architecture. The first thing a player sees is that the Nords are citizens of Skyrim. These characters are further normalized, during the tutorial, the Nord NPCs refer to a Nord player character as brother and show kindness before an execution scene. Other races have descriptions of their homelands and maybe some detail about why they might be in Skyrim, for example, an

Imperial could be there because their Empire has expanded.

There seems to be a ludonarrative reason to pick a Nord as your starting character since they are the citizens of the country within the game. Their race and citizenship gives them a resistance to the cold, and the first characters you meet are Nords that offer you comradery and support for their “brother” or “sister”. It is important to state that after the initial race selection in

Skyrim it is possible to alter skin color, including the ability to make a Black Nord. A non-white

Nord is uncommon in the narrative of Skyrim however, outside of the player character it is possible to see dark or browned skinned Nords, or other skin tone/color variations of different races. This is because to populate the world with non-player characters Skyrim utilizes a randomized character creator to make feel more alive and realistic. I found that NPCs never drew attention to a non-white Nords skin tone/color. It also had no influence on overall player experience or agency.

“Xenoface” is another example of narrative racism. The biggest examples of “xenoface”

(Pace 2008) could be seen with Skyrim’s Orcs like other fantasy descriptions of Orcs, they are brutal and tribal beings often depicted with animalistic traits and dark skin that cannot be altered much by the tone slider. The Orcs in Skyrim clearly drew inspiration from Tolkien’s orcs

(Raerick 2004). The main differences being that the Orcs of Skyrim are not mindless antagonists.

There were also other non-white races that did not need to rely on “xenoface” with the Redguard and Bretons that are just humans from different countries with darker skin tones/colors.

Some other examples of narrative racism that were central themes in two video games

(Skyrim and XCOm 2) was nativism and xenophobia. A common line that appears in Skyrim is,

“Skyrim belongs to the Nords.” Despite the Nords not being the original natives of Skyrim, the narrative involves Nords making racial slurs and comments towards non-Nord characters. They might question the presence of a non-Nord in a certain area, the equivalent of asking, “did you grow up here?” as a racial micro-aggression. Non-Nord races in Skyrim are treated primarily as outsiders, but still had their own enclaves to some degree. Being a member of that race will allow for easier access, but this can be circumvented by completing a quest, paying money, or fulfilling a request. The main story of the world of Skyrim is the Nords trying to rebel and resist a larger imperial influence, while acting out towards other races to maintain the country of Skyrim as a place for Nords.

XCOM 2 utilizes more xenophobia in the face of an alien invasion. The primary setting of the tutorial levels were places in the United States and humans were primarily white. Towards the end of the tutorial it is revealed that the aliens being fought are human hybrids. This adds an element of foreign human invaders and creates a white savior narrative against a foreign power.

Players do have the option to populate their teams with People of Color and even represent other

27 nations and ethnicities through voice and accent selection. However, most non-player characters seen are white people fulfilling white savior narratives (See Table 2).

Narrative racism appeared within video games as a method to familiarize and motivate the player towards a goal. The developers of Skyrim and XCOM 2 demonstrate a color-blind and white centered perspective through stories about nativism and racial tension. These racist narratives of xenophobia and nativism are then dispersed to the millions of players and reaffirms existing racist ideology (Bonilla-Silva 2014). Messages like “Skyrim is for the Nords”, can even act as a means of gatekeeping and alienating People of Color from gaming. In Shaw’s (2014) work, Gregory looked to games to escape hostility, and even from fear of the police. A game that utilizes narratives of xenophobia and nativism can be both triggering, and even attack Players of

Color.

Ludic and Ludonarrative Racism

Narrative Racism is not the only form of racism present in the sampled games. There is also ludic and ludonarrative rational behind character creation. Ludic elements were used to either reaffirm or promote racist ideology through the lens of in-game mechanics. The two video games with narrative racism were also the only ones with ludic racism (see Table 2), or gameplay mechanics affected by race or based on racism.

Fractured but Whole and Skyrim began with a white male character as a default, this potentially invites white male players. The narratives were overly populated with white men making jokes or even attacking other races. The randomized creation offered non-white default options but presented other issues in the form of race and skin tone options.

There is significant overlap between ludic and ludonarrative elements. In the cases of the sampled games, aside from the initial character creation options, racism presented itself within

28 this ludic/ludonarrative overlap. All ludic racism either had foundations in, or lasting effects on ludonarrative racism. Skyrim is the only game where racial selection was an explicit and lasting ludonarrative element (Bissell 2010). While there are some brief ludonarrative elements based on race selection in Fractured but Whole (See Table 2) they were mostly brief combat interactions of racial hostility with no lasting repercussions. Before selecting a skin color or tone, players are given various “fantasy” race options like Vikings, Orcs, cat people, lizardmen. Each of these races is given special bonuses, abilities, influence on starting character traits, grants easier access to certain areas controlled by races, and dialogue might appear either being friendly or antagonistic towards a race. Despite the presence of these ludonarrative elements, race selection does not prevent a player from completing the game with their own preference on play style, there are just minor starting benefits to certain traits, like Nord are good at fighting. Any skill in

Skyrim can be worked on without a racial penalty.

The presence of race in character creation was with Fractured but Whole. The video game was created by the white men behind South Park and takes place in the South Park universe. The writers clearly wanted to make some attempt at satire when it came to character creation choices, and this was done through ludic and ludonarrative elements (see Table 2). The

Fractured but Whole has a multi-staged character creation system. Initially you decide on some aesthetics like hair and outfit for the player character. Players then select a race which is supposed to be portrayed as a joke. The developers used a gradient slider for selectable race placing white and Black as opposites, but also claimed that it was a difficulty setting. After moving the slider to “very hard” which was just dark brown or Black skin, a voice will state how it does not affect combat but will influence the rest of your life. While this could be a commentary on the treatment of Black lives, video games are meant to be a form of enjoyment.

In Shaw’s (2014) interviews video games were a safe space for Black individuals. The players

Shaw interviewed, like Gregory do not play games for the sake of having their identities attacked, with something they already know. The skin color choice was depicted as a difficulty setting is nothing more than a visual “joke” at the beginning of the game. It has no effect on anything besides the player character’s skin color and can even be changed rather easily in game.

The initial character creation is almost meaningless aside from one “joke” on race relations that seems targeted at a white audience. Even when the game’s tutorial ends there are several opportunities to gain features on a ludic feature called a character sheet. These start off by listing a weakness for a superhero persona, but eventually you can pick a gender, religion and race. To unlock the race option of the character sheet you must first receive training from a white man called “PC Principal” who teaches you to recognize and retaliate against microaggressions and trains you on how to be a “social justice warrior”. He then gives a brief description on the difference of race and ethnicity, which is concise and appropriate, before he then permits you to select a race and ethnicity. There is a varied list and it has no effect on skin tone and can be changed at the player’s discretion to just add some extraneous detail to the player character.

After the selection of race and ethnicity, along with gender and religion, a group of white men will appear and attack the player for their options. This happens regardless of the player’s choice, but in the cases of non-binary or non-white individuals who often experience the fear of attack for who they are, this could be a trigger (Schreier 2017).

While narrative racism can be viewed as surface level and story elements that can potentially be ignored, ludic and ludonarrative are the gameplay and mechanics a player is required to work with to complete a game. Skyrim’s suggestion of acceptable roles for races based on starting stats and talents. The Fractured but Whole’s micro-aggression system and

30 literal attacking of a player’s character choices are unavoidable. While you can ignore or subvert a narrative, a player like Gregory (Shaw 2014) will have no choice but to be attacked for their identity when they are seeking escapism.

Conclusion

Ultimately within the sample of video games, race had no overall bearing on the player’s ability to complete or achieve a victory. The story of a created character was up to the player’s decision and own internal narrative. Race of a created character was only influential from a ludic and ludonarrative perspective on the beginning traits and talents of a player character in Skyrim, and occasional combat in The Fractured but Whole. This lack of restriction and punishment based on race supports the descriptions of video games as potential places of escapism and wish fulfillment (Shaw 2014, de Mul 2005). However, there were still games (Skyrim, XCOM 2,

Fractured but Whole) that utilized a white males’ perspectives on race and “xenoface” in depictions of other races and color-blind (Bonilla-Silva 2014) racism through the absence of race entirely in The Sims 3 and Tyranny. Video games provide an opportunity for players to find escapism and victory inclusive to any selectable race or skin tone/color, but there can be racism in the game’s narrative, ludic and ludonarrative elements. The color of Mario’s hat might not matter for ability to finish a game, but the treatment of the other color options can be attacked and meant to feel unwelcome within a video game’s narrative and ludic/ludonarrative elements.

Future research should examine multiplayer games, given that multiple players interact in- game this potentially opens up players to outsider scrutiny or hostility based on their in-game decisions, like character creation. Mordhau is an example of a multiplayer space where non- white male identities are being attacked by the player base (Hall 2019). Multiplayer games like

World of Warcraft utilize a similar race system to Skyrim but have real limitations on player

31 options and interactions they can have with other players. The issues of Skyrim’s “xenoface” and race relations prioritizing white races become more tangible and influential when there are large groups of players actively taking part in race-based wars and fighting. Player agency can become muddled in games like World of Warcraft because of a player created set of standards called a meta. A meta is a set of tiers and rankings of various in game characteristics like what is the best race for a type of play style or weapon. This research can be used as a foundation to further analyze the balance of narrative, ludic and ludonarrative elements within multiplayer games.

More specifically researchers should examine if there is a racial hierarchy that is emblematic of

United States racial relations and understandings. While that hierarchy was missing in these single player games in a ludic and ludonarrative sense, it still was present in the narratives of three (Skyrim, XCOM 2, Fractured but Whole). Multiplayer games might not allow for the same opportunities of player agency to defy in-game narratives using ludic element opportunities like character creation.

Games can be a method of enjoyment and escapism; white men just should not make the rules or story without the perspective of the races they are intentionally or unintentionally representing. The presence of controlling images (Collins 1991), color-blind racism (Bonilla-

Silva 2014), and “xenoface” (Russell 2018) attacks People of Color, dehumanizes them, perpetuates and reaffirms existing racial bias to support societal racism. Millions of people constantly exposed to the notion of white men being a default state empowers white men and alienates other identities (Bonilla-Silva 2014). In the recent events of Mordhau’s character creation changes, white men even protested and harassed developers to keep a space tailored to themselves. Despite the problematic representation that already exists within games (Malkowski and Russworm 2017, Shaw 2014, Everett 2005), People of Color and LGBTQIA+ still find

32 solace and escapism in video games because of the agency and potential for self-insertion that games can provide. An addition of a character creation system or potential for players to exercise more agency or self-projection within a game and construct their own narrative. The Gregorys of the world deserve a safe place for escapism, and do not need to be reminded of the experience of the Rustys (Shaw 2014).

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