What comes to mind when you think of black hair in games? Maybe a clean cornfield set? What about some dreadlocks? Or, which is probably the most likely, do you think is an afro, a Caesar pale or just a bald scalp?
This litmus test has been a heated debate in the games industry ever since games have playable heroes and character creators. even old kotaku Staff Evan Narcisse commissioned the discourse in his article on it. Challenges of portraying Blackness in the gameIt shows that the road has been covered, but it is still quite long.
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While all of the aforementioned hairstyles can be found in almost any character creator today, unfortunately for Black players, it’s still incredibly limited when it comes to creating digital versions of themselves. As any Black person will tell you, our hair has a depth and range that is almost unrepresented in our favorite medium.
And that’s exactly Some Funny Games’ Host and producer Blessing Adeoye Jr. struggles in its final episode. Blessing Show. So we decided to sit down with him and complain about how bad the situation is when it comes to Black hair in games.
Character creators are good but could be better
One of the most recent additions, Adeoye Jr. Funny Games Crew has its own series that examines aspects of games and design. In the last part, “We Need To Fix Black Hair In Video GamesHe gives a bit of history about Black hairstyles, noting that cornrows, the most common appearance in games, date back “over 3,000 years to sub-Saharan Africa.” He is deep. Even deeper is the variety of Black hairstyles that include 360 waves, bantu knot, fro-hawk, Jheri curls and twists, among others.
Unfortunately, many of these styles are not included in the character creators of most modern games. This does not mean that the situation has not improved. points to games like Nioh 2 and, sigh, Hogwarts Legacy As examples of excellent options for black actors to create their own extensions with suitable hair.
But it’s clear Western beauty standards—blond hair, fair skin, blue eyes, slim build, etc.—still became the norm in the industry. As Adeoye Jr. points out, “many popular games have been developed in countries like Japan,” meaning education around the more natural, “ethnic” hair Blacks wear is far less common. Thus, you get something like Hand Ringcharacter creator whose ability to accurately represent a Black individual, although very broad in terms of options, is limited. FromSoftware’s masterpiece best selling game It’s in the Japanese studio’s catalog, but it can’t even get the portrayal of Blackness right.
side by side between games like Nioh series and Hand Ring It is an indicator of how far we have come and how far we have to go.
Western standards of beauty in games
According to this An estimate by the U.S. Census BureauBlacks make up only 13.6 percent of the American population compared to whites who dominate at 75.8 percent. Just by looking at it, you’d assume that our black features—like our melantic skin and curly hair—are not “normal enough or common enough to be considered,” as Adeoye Jr. puts it in his video. And he is not mistaken.
Throughout history, Blacks demonized for its natural properties To support Western beauty standards as the ideal that everyone should strive for, whether possible or not. This is something that both of our families have experienced; straighten your hair to avoid discrimination from by wearing a more natural style. And we went through this in our adolescence, when we got our hair dyed to get a little closer to white so that it would look good by classmates, teachers, bosses and co-workers, even our parents. Never mind the damage it has done to our roots; Straightening our hair has made us beautiful because it is the hairstyle that society wants.
Because Blacks don’t even make up a quarter of America’s population (and less places like Japan), it’s not surprising that natural hairstyles are not in the games or are limited to the usual suspects. It’s also not surprising that many prefer the physical traits that signify white: pale skin, smoother hair texture, smaller lips and noses, etc.
Some games, for example Pokémon Crimson And Violet And Sims 4 You have received updates to “expand” available options such as Fall of BabylonHe couldn’t even admit that black hair (or people for that matter) even existed. And even when we exist in these worlds, our portrayal is inaccurate at best or feels like a caricature at worst (looking at you, CJ).
To take existBrave tribal member and a key character in Guerrilla Games Horizon sherry. Adeoye Jr. She has an impressive location head that’s “refreshingly inclusive” for her, but even Varl isn’t immune from the pressures of Western beauty standards on game design. On closer inspection of the conical dimmer Varl had in the 2022 sequel forbidden westyou can see that the hair texture is flatter than what is considered natural for a hairstyle like this (this curly, kinky hair). The same can be said for Varl’s beard, which appears to have a flatter hair texture.
Blacks are not monolithic, of course. Our hair texture varies by culture and each individual’s scalp, but Varl’s design Difficulty portraying Blackness in games. It’s almost there, but it often misses the target, and it’s a bummer. In many cases, it’s clear that a lot of love has been given to these characters, and advances in graphics rendering technology provide ways to make these depictions even better – we need education along with technical progress.
Still, there are some bright examples for Black players.
The games don’t have many great examples of authentic Black hair. But, Miles Morales“new generation fading” from Kimberly street fighter 6 and her huge braids and Estelle Season: Letter to the Future With his short afro, he is among Adeoye Jr.’s favorite portrayals of Blackness in plays.
“I think usually when you try to portray Black women in a video game, you want something like Kimberly or something longer, but I think it’s great to have a shorter afro for a character. Adeoye Jr. Season in an interview with kotaku. “One of my sisters has a shorter afro so as soon as I see her [Estelle] I was like, ‘Oh, quick, this reminds me of my sister. This is a hairstyle that many Black women have and so I thought it was a really good thing for her to define her character.
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It’s easy to default to something like GTA Online And NBA 2K For character creators with reasonable options for black players. What about inclusive representation? simsWhich promised to do better For the black community – and it’s delivered. Sims 4 have Applied many mods made by Black Simmers Provides greater accuracy and variety when creating black characters.
WWE 2K22 Another powerful character creator with a choice of body types, skin tones, and hairstyles. Or Order of Saints sherry It blew our minds as to how many options were available. creating our own “Boss”.
Curls are not going anywhere
Oftentimes, whenever conversations about Black representation in games come up, a subset of audio The gaming community belittles everything criticism emphasizes with excuses and “what-will-isms”. While interference during the discourse on black representation angers Adeoye Jr., she wants her video to be comfortable and sincere for both parties. like funny the audience and the gaming industry as a whole.
“This is a video I made in hopes of making it feel approachable, it feels like something that’s not offensive most of the time. Sometimes I feel like I can be aggressive about it, but I want to provide this option so that people want to watch the video and not feel like I’m the one humiliating them,” explains Adeoye Jr.
Despite the fact that the majority like funnyAdeoye Jr. believes the arguments he puts forward in his video and the easy-to-understand way he presents them will “go a long way” in encouraging viewers to become champions for better representation in the games.
“When you have a predominantly white industry, these issues are hard to see. You can look at these characters and say, ‘Oh, something is wrong here or something is wrong here, isn’t it?’ As Blacks playing these games, this is something that stands out for us,” says Adeoye Jr.
Adeoye Jr.’s video may not have sparked an abrupt shift in the video game industry towards a more authentic representation of the BIPOC people, but it more than sums up the many disappointments and occasional joys Black gamers feel when it comes to seeing themselves in it. games we play We hope we get even more hair options besides just a fro or fade in games like the one below. Diablo IV And star field.
