Ahead of the release ofSquare Enix’sForspoken, there were concerns about representation.
“As a trusted voice in gaming, diversity, and inclusivity, we were brought in.
“The importance was key to us and our community and this was communicated during our consultation.
For Forspoken specifically, the consultation focused on authenticity and how Black audiences may respond to Frey’s character.
“They feel they own the gaming industry and gaming culture.
They feel empowered to tank a game [that has a Black protagonist].
If it had a white person, they would probably have not felt the same way.
That’s really, really sad.”
“It’s not about readiness.
I think [the audience] don’t want to,” she says.
“But being honest, it’s not a surprise.”
The response to the game paralleled the response to Black Girl Gamers working as a consultant, Lopez adds.
So it’s not a shock to me at all.”
Forspoken isn’t Square Enix’s only big release this year.
Black fans of the series were disappointed by this response, and Lopez says she felt similar.
So to ignore them, and especially in a fantasy setting where anything can exist, makes no sense.
It’s a really poor excuse.”
Lopez believes change needs to come from within studios to improve representation, something consultants can support.
“Even if you do have Black and Brown people on your team, they can provide insight.
“Game studios need to understand they don’t know everything.
Just because it’s worked in the past, it’s not necessarily going to work in the future.
You shouldn’t be ostracising any part of your market that enjoys games.
It makes no sense.”
So what does good representation look like?
“It looks seamless, it feels seamless.
And because they are ‘the norm’, they’ve never really had to think about that.
One area that is seeing improvement, however, is character creators.
“Character customisation is getting much better,” Lopez says.
And there shouldn’t be in this day and age.
But it’s important because everyone deserves to be represented.”
“You don’t know what you don’t know,” says Lopez.
“And there’s no harm in carving out budget to find out what you don’t know.
If it turns out you knew that, great.
