Depictions of Female Protagonists in Digital Games: A Narrative Analysis of 2013 DICE Award-Winning Digital Games

Abstract

Digital games historically hold a spotty record on gender depictions. The lack of depth in female characters has long been the norm; however, an increasing number of female protagonists are headlining games. This study used narrative theory to examine depictions of four female protagonists in four 2013 Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain Award-Winning Digital Games: The Last of Us, Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, and Beyond: Two Souls. Studying these media depictions provides context for how women's stories are recorded in society. Stereotype subversions largely occur within familiar game narratives, and the female protagonists were still largely limited and defined by male figures in the games.

Women Representativity in Games

“…The focus of the study is to analyze the narrative of these characters. The results point to an evolution in female representation, because these characters play a prominent role in their games and are not stereotypes visually, however, some have still rectified conventional female roles such as women purer and more moral than men, personality and skills commonly associated with female gender such as motherhood, sensitivity and healing skills [11]. These results are also found in Kaanan's study [12] that aims to analyze the female characters of Final Fantasy XIII.…”

“…The study by Perrault et al [11] aims to analyze four female protagonists of the games awarded in 2013 by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (DICE). The focus of the study is to analyze the narrative of these characters.…”

Angel Anxiety: Alice Angel as the Uncanny Presence in Bendy and the Ink Machine

“…Campbell's depiction of femininity as a female antagonist is illustrative of how gender in gameplay is often skewed toward the problematic for female characters. Perreault et al (2016) argue that female depictions of game characters, especially protagonists, are either often hyper-sexualized or inherently sexist, both of which tend to appeal more toward traditional patriarchal or misogynistic perspectives of players. However, a turn toward female protagonist depictions that show self-sufficient and confident female characters became apparent to the authors with the release of new generation consoles and games in 2013 and 2014.…”

Nonsport narratives, fan production, and affective discourse in girls and women eSports fandom: An alternative construction of pro-gaming in China

“…The gendered dimension thus has long been neglected. In the traditional field of game studies, research paid more attention to the stereotyping and problematic design of female characters (Downs and Smith, 2010; Knight, 2010; Miller and Summers, 2007, Perreault et al, 2018). In terms of daily game playing, Liu (2012) argued that in online role-playing games, female players are considered “weak” by the general public, identified as having “low gaming skills” and needing special attention.…”