Current:Home > ContactXbox promotes Asian characters and creators amid calls for greater diversity in games -Ascend Finance Compass
Xbox promotes Asian characters and creators amid calls for greater diversity in games
NovaQuant View
Date:2025-04-07 14:21:53
Asian characters have a long history in video games, thanks to Japanese giants like Nintendo and Sony. Now, US-based Microsoft is taking pains to acquire, promote, and create more games with Asian characters — as the industry responds to increased calls for diverse representation.
The move fits in with Microsoft's larger strategy to acquire new content and expand their global reach. The company has been on a spending spree, buying up game companies to broaden their roster on services like the subscription-based Xbox Game Pass. Earlier this year, Microsoft purchased the beleaguered Activision Blizzard. Back in 2020, it absorbed Skyrim publisher Bethesda. The Xbox brand now boasts a more diverse lineup of games than ever before, both in terms of genre as well as representation.
Microsoft wants its customers to know this. Throughout Asian Pacific American Heritage month this May, they promoted banner ads on Xbox Game Pass with Asian game characters and creators. This includes 2017's Prey, which features an Asian-American protagonist named Morgan Yu and a space station infested by a hostile alien force. Five years on, reviewers are still applauding the sci-fi thriller for its unique gameplay, story, and its thoughtful approach to race.
Asian representation at one Microsoft studio
In an interview with VentureBeat, Arkane co-director Ricardo Bare said, "[Making the character Asian] makes as much sense as having any other kind of character. It doesn't make more or less sense. We just thought it was interesting.." Morgan's gender-neutral name also fits a player's choice to play with either a male or female character model.
Bare also says that Arkane wanted to explore new ideas and more diverse backgrounds in how they characterized their heroes. The studio's previous franchise, Dishonored, mostly featured white characters. In contrast, Morgan Yu is mixed-race, the child of a Chinese father and a German mother. "Maybe it's because I have a similar background, but characters of mixed heritage are always interesting to me because they have to blend two different worlds together," Bare tells NPR.
In Morgan's apartment, players can see how identity converges in everyday possessions. These include items like a wok cookbook, a book of T'ang Dynasty poetry, and even a bamboo steamer. While these items reflect Morgan's culture, Arkane also took care in arranging their position in the game world. For example, the T'ang Dynasty book is interspersed with others on subjects ranging from space to electronics. That subtle environmental storytelling shows that heritage is just one facet to who Morgan is, Bare says.
"For Morgan, it was important to us to convey that he grew up Asian American, specifically. In some cases these details allow you to be specific instead of abstract," Bare continues. "Being specific and concrete is always more interesting than being generic."
After Prey, Arkane went on to make 2021's Deathloop, which featured two Black protagonists. They're now working on Redfall, which has four playable characters — including one who is South Asian, a population rarely represented in video games.
Bare says developing more diverse characters takes careful research and invitations to experts from similar backgrounds to act as either fellow creators or consultants. Then, during the final stage of the process, Arkane makes sure to cast voice actors that match a character's ethnicity as closely as possible.
Expanding diversity and competing in the Asian market
Ada Duan, Xbox's general manager of social impact and partnerships, is at the forefront of the gaming industry's efforts to bring more authentic representation to the medium. "Having been in the gaming industry for over 15 years, it is exciting for me to see the increasing diversity of Asian and Pacific Islander creators and the breadth of cultural influences that they bring to the games they make," Duan explains.
All of Xbox's first-party titles, including Prey and the upcoming Redfall, are included in Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft's gaming subscription service, which also curates titles from third-party publishers like Life is Strange: True Colors. That game follows empath Alex Chen, the first Asian American to headline the franchise. Xbox has also given a bigger platform to indie games with diverse settings as well, from the Singapore-based Chinatown Detective Agency to the Kurosawa-inspired Trek to Yomi.
For Xbox, expanding representation makes business sense, Duan says. "Our catalog will continue to grow with all the needs of our global gamers in mind," she says. "Taking into account local language needs, game style preferences and cultural considerations."
That includes breaking into Asian gaming markets, particularly in Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Just this month, they even made significant inroads in Japan, the home of rivals Nintendo and Sony. Xbox has been partnering with developers through local gaming events and workshops in order to get their games in front of more players, and into the Microsoft corporate fold.
For Microsoft, growing an Asian presence on-screen and behind the scenes is both a matter of representation and part of their effort to capture more of the gaming market. As Duan put it: "We continue to champion greater diversity in the games we make, including characters and storylines, as we look to reach the 3 billion gamers on the planet."
George Yang is a columnist for Join the Game and a freelance writer specializing in video games and culture. Find him on Twitter: @yinyangfooey
veryGood! (334)
Related
- Former longtime South Carolina congressman John Spratt dies at 82
- Evangelical Texas pastor Tony Evans steps down from church due to unnamed 'sin'
- DNC says it will reimburse government for first lady Jill Biden's Delaware-Paris flights
- Young Thug's attorney Brian Steel arrested for alleged contempt of court: Reports
- Sonya Massey's father decries possible release of former deputy charged with her death
- Dangerous heat wave could break temperature records, again, in cities across the country this week
- John Leguizamo calls on Television Academy to nominate more diverse talent ahead of Emmys
- Baltimore channel fully reopened for transit over 2 months after Key Bridge collapse
- In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
- May tornadoes, derecho storm push weather damages past $25 billion so far this year
Ranking
- What to watch: O Jolie night
- The Equal Pay Act passed over 60 years ago. So, why do women still make less than men?
- Police in Ohio fatally shoot man who they say charged at officers with knife
- Horoscopes Today, June 10, 2024
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- WNBA power rankings: Liberty, Sun pace league, while Mystics head toward ill-fated history
- Michigan couple, attorney announced as winners of $842.4 million Powerball jackpot
- Utah governor looks to rebound in primary debate after harsh reception at GOP convention
Recommendation
Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
Why Bachelor's Joey Graziadei & Kelsey Anderson Have Been Living With 2 Roommates Since Show Ended
Nvidia 10-for-1 stock split puts share price within reach of more investors
Bureau of Land Management shrinks proposed size of controversial Idaho wind farm project
Juan Soto praise of Mets' future a tough sight for Yankees, but World Series goal remains
Crew wins $1.7 million after catching 504-pound blue marlin at Big Rock Tournament in NC
Dutch king and queen visit Georgia’s oldest city and trade powerhouse during US visit
US Rep. Nancy Mace faces primary challenge in South Carolina after tumultuous term