Dynamic Demographics: Lessons from a Large-Scale Census of Performative Possibilities in Games
summary
A census of 200 games released since 2005 codes only playable characters by 30 minutes of play and researcher sight reads, then consults colleagues for disputed cases; results show a clear white masculinity skew with the second-largest group being characters whose race and gender are undeterminable, and no default examples of non-binary gender; methods note indie versus AAA coding and push a shift to probabilistic reads that record varied interpretive possibilities.
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chapters (9)
- 0:00Introduction to study
- 1:32Methodology and census design
- 3:36Coding race and gender
- 6:26Race as discursive concept
- 7:28Gender coding challenges
- 8:33Quantitative findings
- 10:43Interrater variability insights
- 13:51Reevaluating research approach
- 15:20Q&A session
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