作者：Mattie Brice

现在，大家越来越重视游戏从业者的多样性问题。不仅新闻上频频播报游戏公司中的歧视问题，也有越来越多批评家指出游戏的单一性弊端。之所以会出现这些问题，一个重要原因是，从事游戏开发和营销的人员没有意识到自己其实一直在助长各种歧视现象（如男性主义、白人至上等），因为那些观念已经根深蒂固了。

我是玩游戏长大的，我从事游戏设计，我曾在多场会议上探讨如何在游戏中表现少数群体，所以我在此提出这个独特的视角，来帮助开发者和营销人员思考这些问题。掌握设计知识确实有帮助，因为有时候处理已经存在的内容确实很棘手。

diversity(from karishmadaswani)

误区1：坚信受众只有白人直男

在游戏行业中最大的误解之一就是，在游戏中展示多样性会与商业产生冲突。而事实是，少数群体也玩游戏，也是人数不断增长的受众。玩家希望在游戏中看到多样性，多样性对开发者是有益的：提供更丰富的探索内容，更容易使玩家产生强烈的情感共鸣。

误区2：坚持故事主角必定是白人直男

在过去20年，我们已经目睹了剧情对玩家体验的巨大影响。优秀的剧情设计可以使一款平凡无奇的射击游戏或平台游戏华丽转身。现在，行业正在挖掘新故事，因为白人男性拯救世界的桥段已经过时了。这当然不是说白人男性就不能再当救世主了，而是，玩家希望其他人也能有同样的机会。

误区3：坚持故事的叙述者只能是白人直男

越来越多公司，如BioWare，开始更加关注多样性。EA在对待LGBTQA（游戏邦注：L：女同性恋者(Lesbian)、G：男同性恋者(Gay)、B：双性恋者(Bisexual)T：认同自己的心理性别是符合或超越男女二元属性的跨性别者（T）、Q：未定者（questioning）：对自己的性别或性倾向暂时判断不清楚的人群和A：无性恋者（asexual））等问题方面走在前列，我们有望看到其他公司紧随其后。然而，大多数基础工作归功于独立艺术家如Anna Anthropy、Robert Yang和Molleindustria。许多大公司可以在他们的呼声中找到灵感，以形成他们自己的开发模式。

误区4：坐视不理办公室中的歧视问题

当说到歧视现象，游戏公司应当引起高度重视，因为这是经常发生的。特别是对于女性，游戏工作室并不是一个友好的环境，因为许多公司的办公文化更接近于“男孩俱乐部”。这导致女性在游戏行业如走马灯，尽管公司努力招聘更多女性员工，但她们总是来来去去干不久。所有公司都应该认真组织办公环境，确保为所有员工（无论是男性还是女性）提供一个让他们觉得安全、有认同感的氛围。

误区5：忽视歧视政策带来的商业风险

显然，多样性意味着更多原创、更多视角、更快成长。采取兼容并包政策的公司能得到更好的舆论评价、更能吸引潜在的人才。如果你的游戏以女性为主角，只要你好好塑造角色且游戏本身质素过硬，照样能大卖。以少数群体为主角的游戏有风险，是因为这些游戏通常更难得到资金和推广机会，所以它们才会比以白人男性为主角的游戏更不好卖。但随着媒体和玩家越来越关注歧视问题，那些仍然坚持走歧视少数群体路线的公司将危及自己的公众形象。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，拒绝任何不保留版权的转载，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

How to avoid diversity pitfalls in your studio

By Mattie Brice

Right now, there is growing awareness of diversity issues in the game industry. There is no shortage of developer mishaps in the news, and more critics are pointing out the problematic aspects of games. Many of these problems arise because staff working in game development and marketing are simply not aware they are contributing to sexism and other forms of discrimination, because that’s how things were always done.

I’ve grown up with games, design games, and speak at many venues about representations of minorities in games, so I bring this unique perspective to help developers and marketers counter anything they didn’t want in their material. Having design knowledge really helps, as sometimes it’s tricky to work around what content you already have.

Pitfall 1: believing that your audience is only white, straight men

One of the biggest misconceptions in the industry is that representing more diversity in games will conflict with commercial concerns. Minorities have been gaming since gaming began, and their space on the pie chart of demographics is only getting larger. Players want more diversity in their games, and diversity helps developers. It gives them more content to explore, and can easily create strong, moving connections with players.

Pitfall 2: only telling stories about white, straight men

Over the past two decades, we’ve seen narrative take a strong place in how players enjoy games. Great narrative design can turn a typical platformer or shooter into a critical hit. And now, the industry is looking for new stories; white men saving the day is very much played out. This doesn’t men white men aren’t allowed to be heroes any more, it’s just that players want other characters to have their turn too.

Pitfall 3: only telling stories by white, straight men

On a larger scale, we see companies like BioWare really pushing to become more aware and diverse. EA overall is forward about solving LGBTQA and other issues in their workplace, and we’re going to start seeing other companies doing the same. Most of the ground work, however, is coming from independent artists like Anna Anthropy, Robert Yang, and Molleindustria. A lot of larger companies could find inspiration in these voices and try to translate into their development models.

Pitfall 4: not actively working to make your studio a safe space

Companies should be reading up on common problems in tech spaces when it comes to discrimination, because it is unfortunately a common occurrence. In particular, it is a often hostile environment for women because many companies create a culture similar to a boy’s club. This results in a revolving door of sorts for women in the industry, where companies try hiring more women but can’t seem to retain them. All companies should get an audit on their workplace environment and make sure all of their employees feel safe and valued no matter what their identity is.

Pitfall 5: ignoring the business risks of homogeneity

Plain and simple, more diversity means more original ideas, more perspectives, more growth. Companies known for their more inclusive policies gain more social support and a wider breadth of potential applicants. If you are working hard on your game with a woman main character, if it’s a good game, it will sell just as well if not more. Research the myths behind risk-aversion of minority characters; these games were often given less funding and less marketing than their white men counterparts, so naturally they don’t show as well. Being continually discriminatory will actually hurt your bottom line and your company’s social clout as more of the media and player-base gets savvy about these issues.(source:gamesbrief)