Well before designers begin coding a new video game, they need to ask themselves a few key questions: How is this game portraying the player and allowing the player to behave in the world they are creating? Who is being represented? What characters can a gamer take on, and what is it like to play that character?
Jordan Tynes, Hess Fellow and visiting lecturer in computer science at Wellesley, doesn’t think many game studios are asking those questions carefully enough. He believes some issues with representation and toxicity in the gaming industry stem from the premises of the games themselves—such as those that ask players to become someone else, allowing for concealed identities, or that take place in...