Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2022
Keywords
Gender, Narrative Framing, Indie Games, Qualitative Research, Identity
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120211026279
Abstract
Video games have long held a spotty history in their narratives regarding women. Most research has examined large budget games and identified issues of simplification, oversexualization, and a general lack of agency among female characters. The present study explores the gaming niche of “indie”—or independent game developer—video games in their representations of women in particular with Never Alone, Gone Home, and Her Story. These games were released around the time frame of the GamerGate controversy—a controversy which drew attention to the treatment of women in gaming culture—and hence, the games are used to reflect on a potential shift in games culture following the controversy. This article argues that these game narratives emphasized multilayered female characterizations, female-to-female interactions, and internal dramas as a way to potentially reach female gamers and present an alternative, humanizing narrative on women.
Rights Information
Was this content written or created while at USF?
No
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Games and Culture, v. 17, issue 2, p. 244-261
Perreault, M. F., Perreault, G., & Suarez, A., What Does It Mean to Be a Female Character in “Indie” Game Storytelling? Narrative Framing and Humanization in Independently Developed Video Games, Games and Culture, 17(2), pp. 244-261. Copyright © 2022 by SAGE Publications.
The final authenticated version is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120211026279.
Scholar Commons Citation
Perreault, Mildred F.; Perreault, Gregory P.; and Suarez, Andrea, "What Does It Mean to Be a Female Character in “Indie” Game Storytelling? Narrative Framing and Humanization in Independently Developed Video Games" (2022). School of Advertising & Mass Communications Faculty Publications. 47.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/com_facpub/47
