Leveling Up Inclusivity: Driving Diversity and Inclusion in Games and Beyond
About
The presentation explores the crucial role of inclusivity in gaming and beyond. The presentation delves into how diverse character representation, narrative equity, and accessible design can transform user experience and broaden market reach. Emphasizing why inclusivity isn't just right but smart, I'll discuss strategies for embedding diversity in content creation, illustrate its impact with case studies, and provide actionable steps for practitioners. This session is a call to action for creators to champion change and drive the industry forward, illustrating inclusivity's benefits across all forms of media.
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Talk in brief
At WaysConf 2024, Zuzanna Widz, Senior Localization Specialist and UX Writer at Ten Square Games, discussed the critical importance of driving diversity and inclusion (D&I) in game development and product design. Widz highlighted how designing for a narrow demographic leads to biased products, citing examples like infrared soap dispensers failing to detect dark skin tones and car safety systems optimized solely for male anatomy. In the gaming industry, where women make up over half of US players and are highly likely to make in-app purchases, they remain frequently over-sexualized or misrepresented. To address these gaps, Widz outlined four key pillars: inclusive language, localization, inclusive design, and authentic representation. She demonstrated how Ten Square Games iteratively improved titles like Hunting Clash by removing suggestive default usernames, and how AI tools like Promptitude can scan and refine copy to be more inclusive. Ultimately, Widz urged teams to build diverse crews, validate assumptions through testing with diverse users, and leverage AI to identify biases.
Key takeaways
- 01
The Distinction Between Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity refers to assembling a mix of people from various backgrounds, genders, and sexual orientations, while inclusion is the active practice of making that mix work by providing equal access and treatment.
Watch from 6:07 - 02
Designing Beyond the Default Demographic
Products designed without diverse testing often fail marginalized groups, as seen with soap dispensers that fail to detect dark skin tones or car safety features that increase injury risks for women.
Watch from 0:43 - 03
The Economic Power of Female Gamers
Women represent 52% of US mobile gamers and are 79% more likely than men to make in-app purchases, making inclusive, non-sexualized design a highly profitable strategy.
Watch from 2:04 - 04
Localization as an Accessibility Tool
Adapting games to local languages and cultural norms, such as replacing blood with mechanical parts in German releases, expands user reach and respects regional regulations.
Watch from 11:30 - 05
Leveraging AI to Detect Bias
Development teams can use AI tools and prompts to automatically scan in-game copy, identify exclusionary phrasing, and suggest neutral alternatives like replacing 'fisherman' with 'angler.'
Watch from 17:51
Read edited transcript highlights
These concise notes were edited from automatic captions and checked against the talk structure. They are not a verbatim transcript.
The Real-World Impact of Exclusionary Design
Designing products for a narrow demographic, typically centered around white males, often results in severe real-world failures. For instance, infrared soap dispensers frequently fail to detect darker skin tones because they were only tested on lighter skin during development. Similarly, women are significantly more likely to suffer serious injuries in car crashes because safety features like seat belts and airbags are optimized exclusively for male anatomy. These examples underscore why testing with a diverse user base is not just a preference, but a necessity.
Watch from 0:40The Economic Case for Welcoming Women in Gaming
Although women make up over half of the gaming population in the United States and are nearly 80% more likely than men to make in-app purchases, they are still frequently over-sexualized and misrepresented in games. There is a massive financial incentive for the gaming industry to create more welcoming environments for female players. However, capturing this market requires moving away from outdated, sexualized tropes and focusing on authentic representation that respects female players as a major demographic.
Watch from 2:04Refining Language for Better Accessibility
Language is a powerful tool that we use constantly, and small adjustments can make a massive difference in how users feel. Implementing gender-neutral terms, such as using 'police officer' instead of 'policeman' or addressing a crowd with 'Hello everybody' rather than 'ladies and gentlemen,' fosters a more welcoming environment. Additionally, avoiding mental health terms as casual insults and prioritizing clear, concise instructions without relying solely on color indicators ensures that copy remains accessible to everyone, including those with cognitive or visual impairments.
Watch from 7:28Adapting Content Through Cultural Localization
Localization goes far beyond translating words; it is about making a product culturally relevant and legally compliant in different regions. For example, Animal Crossing adapts its seasonal events to match local cultures, featuring Shichi-Go-San in Japan and Thanksgiving in Western releases. Furthermore, localization must respect regional laws and social norms, as seen in the German release of Team Fortress, where characters burst into mechanical gears and springs instead of blood to comply with local youth protection laws.
Watch from 11:30Iterative Design and the Hunting Clash Update
Achieving perfect inclusivity on the first try is rarely possible due to budget and time constraints, which makes listening to user feedback and iterating crucial. At Ten Square Games, we reviewed our title Hunting Clash and noticed that the default assigned nickname was 'wild cougar.' Because 'cougar' carries a suggestive, sexist double meaning when applied to middle-aged women, we actively changed this default setting. This small, iterative adjustment demonstrates how teams can easily refine their products to be more respectful and inclusive.
Watch from 14:23Automating Inclusivity with AI Prompts
AI tools can significantly ease the process of identifying and correcting biases in product copy. By setting up specific prompts in tools like Promptitude, developers can automatically scan source texts for stereotypes or exclusionary language. For example, scanning a live event description in Fishing Clash allowed the AI to successfully suggest replacing gendered terms like 'fisherman' with 'angler' and changing 'make all the other men jealous' to 'make everyone jealous.' This shows how technology can streamline the creation of inclusive content in multiple languages.
Watch from 17:49