Aroni, G., 2026.
Empowered by Play: How Female Players and Developers Shape Female Character Representation in Chinese Video Games
| Output Type: | Chapter in a book |
| Publication: | Girls' Positionalities at the Intersection of Identity and Violence |
| Brief Description/Editor(s): | Chapdelaine-Feliciati, C., Jiaotong, X. |
| Publisher: | Springer, Cham, Switzerland |
| ISBN/ISSN: | 978-3-032-06470-7 |
| URL: | doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-06470-7_6 |
| Pagination: | pp. 81-94 |
Digital games are not new to controversies regarding the depiction of female characters and the treatment of women in the industry. Nearly half of the players worldwide are women, but what about game developers, and how has that changed the depiction of female characters? Unlike in the West, in China women constitute about half of both players and the gaming industry workforce. Indeed, digital games aimed specifically at a female audience and developed by female teams are extremely popular. Bringing examples from digital games developed in China such as Mr Love and Sword and Fairy 7, and comparing them to Western and Japanese productions, this chapter investigates how female characters are represented in Chinese games. It compares two aspects of games that are arguably intertwined: (1) the composition of the workforce producing digital games and (2) their players, exploring how these factors influence the portrayal of female characters in digital games.