NEW YORK—Video games released by the top U.S.-focused console publishers over the past two years suggests that the industry has increased space for diversity with more people of color, women and the LGBTQ+ community appearing in video games according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The analysis found that at least one playable character that was a person of color, a woman or from the LGBTQ+ community was featured in 84% of the 38 console games published by Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony and Take-Two in 2022, up slightly from 80% of 35 games released in 2021.
Of those groups, women were mostly represented in games published in 2022, with 27 titles offering an option to select or create a female character. People of color were not far behind at 25 games.
The LGBTQ+ community had the lowest representation in the games we analyzed at just six titles in 2022.
"The metaverse will likely deepen the desire for consumers to feel accurately represented in virtual worlds as it extends avatar experiences to remote meetings and other social settings,” explained Neil Barbour, analyst, S&P Global Market Intelligence. “Publishers and platform holders addressing this issue now will be better positioned as the metaverse's footprint grows."
This analysis includes the top three U.S.-based publishers by revenue, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts and Take-Two, as well as the publishing arms of the three top console platform holders, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony.
The full report is available for download here.
