Games with black leads and characters were derided as being forced. Female characters who were considered unattractive or masculine suffered from “YOUR chin.” Dragon Age: The Veil Guardianhas been criticized by far-right trolls for its customization options, which allow players to create characters with scars from surgical procedures or play with a non-binary companion. After the reviews were published, conspiracy theorists resorted to cliched phrases or other expressions to prove that the BioWare studio was instructing reviewers on how to talk about their game.
Even unreleased titles bombed. compulsive games’ South of midnightabout a young black woman in the Deep South, raised the ire of the anti-DEI masses on platforms like X, where they did it edited with Photoshop The heroine is intended to make her look less “repulsive” and to create conspiracy theories about Sweet Baby’s influence on the game’s development.
But the pressure to remain apolitical — a strange agenda for a form of entertainment that combines the artistic preferences of narrative and imaginary worlds with the agency granted to the players who inhabit them — didn’t just come from a vocal minority. After the publication of Black Myth: Wukongsome streamers were Instructions given to avoid talking about Covid-19 or “feminist propaganda”. The guidelines had the opposite effect, encouraging streamers to move forward with the codewords they were banned from: a push against standards designed to censor players.
I’m looking forward to In 2025, Ball says he’s hearing more pessimism in general, but “it just sucks to think about, let alone predict.” If there’s a positive, he says, it’s that “a lot more hiring is happening than is generally believed.” . The downside is that it doesn’t come close to compensating overall, especially with indies.”
As 2024 draws to a close, the industry – viewed from the outside – operates with a “business as usual” mentality. In early December, developers gathered in Los Angeles to celebrate at the Game Awards. On stage, host Geoff Keighley gave a short speech surrounded by game announcements, awards and an appearance by Snoop Dogg.
“The sad reality is that the gaming industry has suffered significant and unprecedented industry-wide layoffs in recent years,” Keighley said. “This impacts the games we get to play and, more importantly, the people who make the games we love.” We can debate and certainly disagree about the reasons for this, and honestly “That said, it’s kind of hard for us as a show to address these issues in a constructive way.”
Keighley used the segment to introduce TGA’s first “Game Changer” award, a nod to a person who has positively influenced the industry. Then the show continued, with headline-dominating announcements about major projects like The Witcher 4 and the next title from The Last of Us Developer Naughty Dog.
Amidst all this lurks the specter of AI. There is still little insight into how much AI will continue to grow and how future games might use it, but it is growing concern as ordinary workers are laid off. No one knows when or if the industry will get back on its feet with sustainable jobs and compensation. Yes, there will be games. It’s harder to say how many people can make them.
