Dataspelsbranschen work could mean the creation of new labels for games for whether the game promotes gender equality
Future gaming products from Sweden could soon be labelled based on whether the game promotes gender equality or not, as the Swedish government-funded innovation agency Vinnova has paid the trade body Dataspelsbranschen a grant of 272,000 kronor or $36,672 to explore gender equality in gaming.
Dataspelsbranschen will be working with several games developers to see how Swedish video games and developers portray their female characters as well as gender issues. While speaking with The Local project manager Anton Albin stated that “It was unclear at this stage if all games produced in Sweden would be given a label, or if companies developing games that promoted equality would be given some kind of certification to use for their own marketing purposes.”
On top of this Dataspelsbranschen will also look at how different game developers promote gender equality and diversity in their games “with the view to helping others to learn from their innovation.”
Some of you reading this may be worried that this focus on gender equality could detract from developers creativity and possibly from games set in fantasy, Albin stated that “Of course games can be about fantasy but they can be so much more than this. They can also be a form of cultural expression – reflecting society or the society we are hoping for. Games can help us to create more diverse workplaces and can even change the way we think about things.“
The Swedish government-funded innovation agency Vinnova has paid a grant of $36,672 to explore gender equality in gaming which could lead to games being labelled to if they promote gender equality, but what’s your view on the matter? Do you think it’s a step too far or is it about time, either way tell us in the comments section below.
The original source of this story is Polygon and you can read it here.