Characteristics such as sexual orientation, age, body type, gender identity or culture are reflected in a metric.
Activision Blizzard He has been looking for years to make a more diverse representation in the characters of their video games and proof of this is Overwatch: the popular hero-shooter had a large number of characters where diversity was on display. To work on this line and guard against “unconscious bias”the company has shared one of its tools for diversity on its blog.
This ‘Diversity Space Method‘ was designed by subsidiary King, the makers of Candy Crush, and carries running since 2016 in many of the company’s studios. We have been able to see, as an example of the use of the tool, the diversity values of some of the Overwatch characters. If we look at Torbjörn, he would have very low values in terms of sexual orientation or ethnicity, being a white and heterosexual man, however, the figures grow when we take into account his age, short stature and his prosthetic arm.
The discovery of the tool, which has been echoed by Fanbyte, has been received with some astonishment before the quantifiable nature with which Activision Blizzard raises the diversity of its characters. An dystopian approach that the company has sought to clarify in an updated blog post, where they ensure that this tool “does not replace any other effort” in diversity objectives.
“The tool not designed to be used in isolation“, assured Activision Blizzard. Meanwhile, the company is still immersed in a legal battle that started after accusations of hostile culture and discrimination against women in July of last year and that seems far from over. Just a few weeks ago we learned that Activision Blizzard lobbied its shareholders to prevent a report on harassment and discrimination at the company from being published.
More about: Activision Blizzard, Diversity and Overwatch.
