MCV/DEVELOP News, events, research and jobs from the games industry
The links between games violence and real-world violence are dubious, but a new study has suggested a worrying new corroboration between some games and social attitudes. An Ohio State University study has found that young male gamers who identify with characters in violent games that objectify women show less empathy …
Read More »Beamdog will expand transgender character’s story
The boss of Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear developer Beamdog has said that his studio’s internal limits on development practise probably contributed to the recent outrage about a transgender character. Last week corners of the internet were set ablaze by the inclusion of a transgender character in the RPG. To …
Read More »Rust now assigns character gender based on Steam user ID
As previously touted by its creator Garry Newman, PC Early Access hit Rust has started automatically choosing a player’s character gender according to an algorithm based on their Steam ID. We understand this is a sore subject for a lot of people. We understand that you may now be a …
Read More »Latest Feminist Frequency project hits funding goal
Video series Ordinary Women has been successfully crowdfunded on Seed&Spark. The Feminist Frequency production entered its final six-hour stretch some $20k short of its $200k goal. However, during a live stream featuring critic Anita Sarkeesian and broadcast from Double Fine Productions, the project hit its target. Four episodes of the …
Read More »Beamdog stands by developers but cuts Gamergate dig from Baldur’s Gate
The CEO of Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear developer Beamdog has spoken out against the harassment aimed at some of its developers. The game sparked fury this week by having the audacity to include a transgender character. The studio has said that it feels the idea may have been better …
Read More »IGDA: Nintendo is oblivious to consequences of Rapp sacking
The International Game Developers Association has criticised Nintendo for the timing of its sacking of Alison Rapp. Rapp was fired last week after a prolonged online hate campaign. Rapp stated that Nintendo told her she was no longer a good, safe representative of Nintendo”, although the platform holder insisted that …
Read More »Overwatch’s old butt pose replaced with new butt pose
The art that will replace Overwatch’s controversial Tracer pose that sparked many an angry online forum post late last month has been revealed. As a recap, the original pose – which can be seen below – was criticised for sexualising the character in a way that seemed at odds with …
Read More »Baldur’s Gate expansion criticised for inclusion of a transgender character
Just another normal day in the games industry, then. Recently released Baldur’s Gate expansion Siege of Dragonspear has found itself subject to heavy criticism from segments of the fanbase, with the anger seemingly directed toward two fronts. On the one hand, there is widespread frustration at the game’s technical performance. …
Read More »Gaming’s gender split equal across PC and mobile
The widespread stereotype of gamers as being predominantly male has been dealt yet another blow. A newreportfrom App Annie looking into the US audiences for mobile, PC and console during Q3 2015 found that iOS, Android and PC/Mac gamers were almost exactly evenly-split between male and female. The console demographic, …
Read More »Blizzard to remove sexualised Tracer pose, provoking predictable outcry
Subsets of the games community are crying ‘censorship’ once again after Blizzard has said it will pull sexually exploitative Overwatch artwork. The pose in question depicts Tracer looking over her shoulder at the viewer, displaying her lycra-clad behind. It’s a position that nearly every female game or superhero movie star …
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