Most people view video games as an apolitical topic. Usually, they are considered a male-dominated, enjoyable pastime that evolved from a nerdy, shameful hobby to a universal activity bringing young people together.
If this reality ever existed, it’s long gone now. What were previously cordial disagreements around key aspects of a title such as story, game-design, etc, have devolved into anti-woke reactionary rants admonishing minor aspects of character identities.
The most recent example is “Assassins Creed: Shadows,” the long anticipated 14th installment in the Action RPG series released on March 20.
In terms of professional reviews, the game has fared well. It received an 81% score from Metacritic, 8/10 on IGN and similar ratings from reputable sources.
The widespread criticism has revolved around something much more reductive: race and gender.
The game’s main protagonist, Yasuke, is a Black Japanese samurai who has the possibility to have homosexual relationships if the player chooses.
In September, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), reprimanded the development team on these grounds.
Replying to an X post shaming the game, he stated that “DEI kills art.”
Many popular video game content creators online have driven the discourse as well.
YellowFlash 2, a YouTube channel with over 474,000 subscribers, has made numerous videos critiquing the game with titles such as “Assassins Creed Shadows launch is a DISASTER! Gamers are REJECTING Ubisoft’s DEI Japan dream!”
The main argument these individuals present is the idea that politics should stay out of video games, movies and entertainment in general. If more ethnic groups and sexualities are being represented, it has to mean white men are getting the short end of the stick.
This could not be more off base.
With “Assassins Creed: Shadows,” Yasuke’s inclusion stems from the real-life historical samurai in Japanese culture. Looking past that to form any opinion concerning his inclusion is grasping at straws. But even if you look beyond the recent title, it becomes clear that the diversity rationale simply comes from a core aspect of art in general. It’s supposed to be relatable.
Every race or ethnic group should be equally portrayed, and due to years of predominantly straight white protagonists in video games, there’s a significant amount of ground that needs to be covered for minority groups. Combine that with the good mainstream PR that has come with it, and the notion of white male erasure being the primary motive falls apart.
Another commonly held grievance among gamers is the attractiveness of the characters, particularly females.
The Critical Drinker, a Youtuber with over 2.28 million subscribers, criticized this on his second channel in a video titled “Why Modern Gaming Sucks – Ugly Characters Everywhere,” which received 836,000 views and 64,000 likes.
He claimed that most western video game developers today have “rejected femininity” by giving their female characters “male features.” The YouTuber even went as far as hyper-analyzing the zoomed-in faces of characters, saying MJ from “Spider-Man 2” and Aloy from “Horizon Forbidden West” look more masculine than in previous games.
The implications of this argument are callous. Worrying about whether women portrayed in art fit your standards of attractiveness is nothing less than objectivization. Looking beyond the misogyny, this argument fails again because it diverges from the core of what video games like “Spider-Man 2” are supposed to be.
Regardless of whether a protagonist is black, gay, straight, etc., the vast majority of games are intended to be judged on their gameplay, story and how it connects with the player.
Ironically, anti-DEI males on the internet have done exactly what they’ve grumbled about for years. They’ve introduced right-wing politics into gaming and art in general and more consumers are falling into the trap.
There are a plethora of problems with the modern gaming industry: price increases, mass layoffs and micro transactions are just a few. But to adequately address those problems, consumers need to stop worrying about the gender, sexuality or good looks of the characters.
It’s reductive nonsense. The more false enemies that are created, the harder it becomes to bring the true culprits to justice.
