Tülay McNally is the global director of inclusive design for Electronic Arts with a background in the gaming industry working with companies such as Bioware, Sega, and DICE.
The video game industry continues to grow as more people than ever are playing video games, be that hardcore or casual, so ensuring that the titles reaching players have diversity is something the industry needs to be more aware of.
McNally has a team at EA that works across the studio’s many games to make them more inclusive. She is also part of the positive play group which put in place positive guidelines to help ensure that the gaming community feels safe, fair, and inclusive.
During the talk a Newzoo report on diversity was mentioned which shows in the US 46 percent of gamers are female so the old stereotype that only men play games has long passed. 16 percent of players are LGBTQIA+, 31 percent have a disability, 20 percent are Latinx, 15 percent are black and 5 percent are Asian American. These stats vary from region to region but no matter where you check the stats they show gamers are a diverse bunch.
Representation for everyone
Speaking on what players want McNally stated that “players today want to see themself represented in the game in an authentic and meaningful way” she went on to say “Inclusion is going to be more relevant in the future for the experiences that we craft.”
Expanding on this further McNally explained that not only do gamers want more diversity in the titles they play but they also want to see companies taking more of a social stand on things that are happening in the world and on how our games are made.
McNally said that when these inclusivity principles are being taught to developers they discuss what is under the surface as people are not one-dimensional. McNally uses herself as an example in saying she is not just a woman but a woman from Turkey with no primary language and came from a working-class background, therefore multiple dimensions make up who she is and that train of thought is used in the recommendations made to developers for when they consider character creation.
Inclusivity covers such a huge range from gender, sexuality, body positivity, and being culturally respectful therefore all of these things need to be taken into account.
A question at the end of the talk was put forward asking if it has been a difficult or easy process in getting developers involved with including diversity within their games, to which McNally responded with not at all, teams are welcoming this outlook and the only real challenge has been that people are so worried to get it wrong they end up doing nothing or they are simply not sure where to begin. By having someone like herself on board she can guide them through the process.
A recent Newzoo report covered female gamer demographics and revealed that mobile gaming is the dominant way to play for the majority of females. You can also get more information on Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki here.
