00.00
[Text on screen] 79% of main characters in games are male
00.07
Thea Chow: In the gaming world, main characters aren't exactly known for their diversity. And there isn't much diversity in race, skin colour, abilities, values, or sexual orientation. So I think there's clearly a lot of work to be done to level the playing field.
00.28
[Text on screen] Designing for Inclusivity by Google for Games
00.33
Chow: Hi, I'm Thea, I'm from Supercell, the games company that created mobile games like Clash of Clans, Clash Royale, Boom Beach, Brawl Stars, and Hayday.
00.42
[Text on screen] DEI in Game Development
00.44
Chow: We want to create and evolve games with diversity, equity, and inclusion in mind and I think that extends to how we relate as a team as well. We care about each other's skills, but we also want to create an environment that celebrates strengths like empathy, warmth or collaborativeness. And I think the things that we care about as a team will naturally flow into the way we make games.
01.10
Chow: Supercell has a really strong portfolio of legacy games that have been around for a long time. For example, I'm the former Lead for Clash Royale, a game that has a whole host of characters or “cards” as we call them, which originally, almost a decade ago, were predominantly male. And that means we have to be really mindful going forward to even out that ratio.
We're constantly expanding our cards and having regular releases. And whenever we do that, we have discussions within the team about how to make each character unique, and that also means keeping diversity in mind.
01.44
Chow: Right now I'm on a new game in development and we've been able to build the characters and environments in order to frame the game with these things in mind. We see our roster as a platform to resonate with more and more players. And I think beyond the game itself, it's so important to have diverse perspectives at every level. And we're encouraged to challenge our own thinking and our existing games.
Last year, we jointly designed a 4-week bootcamp called “Diverse by Design” with Google and the pilot aimed to basically raise awareness on the importance of DEI, discuss inclusive game design, and uncover some hidden biases in creating games for everyone."
02.22
[Text on screen] The Future of DEI in Gaming
02.25
Chow: We're making progress but we can do more. To make truly diverse games, we need more diverse voices, and we want to show people that anyone can inspire the next generation of mobile game characters and anyone can create new worlds never imagined before.
