Activision Blizzard has released a new blog detailing their Diversity Space Tool: a new system for character design developed by King and the MIT Game Lab which translates elements of diversity into character attributes. (via)

Im Verlauf des gestrigen Tages hat Activision Blizzard einen neuen Blogeintrag veröffentlicht, der Nutzern ihr neues Diversity Space Tool etwas näher bringen sollte. Dieses neue System wurde in den vergangenen Jahren wohl von King und MIT Game Lab erschaffen und es soll Entwicklerstudios dabei helfen mehr diverse Charaktere zu erschaffen. Durch das Tool können Personen von einem Programm errechnen lassen, wie divers eine von ihnen erstellte Spielfigur ist und wie viel Diversität es in einer Gruppe von Figuren gibt. Dadurch sollen Entwicklern mehr Optionen für diverse Charaktere aufgezeigt werden und man möchte zeitgleich verhindern, dass erstellte Charaktere nur divers in ihren Hautfarben sind.

Dieses Diversity Space Tool identifiziert, was für unterschiedliche Charaktereigenschaften und Besonderheiten eine Figur besitzt. Danach vergleicht es diese gefundenen Merkmale mit der im System gespeicherten „Norm“. Durch diesen Vergleich berechnet das Programm dann, wie divers der jeweilige Charakter oder die ausgesuchte Gruppe an Figuren sind. Nutzer erhalten die Ergebnisse dann in Form von mehreren Diagrammen, die die Diversität einer Figur in verschiedenen Kategorien wie beispielsweise Alter oder Kultur mit einer Zahl zwischen 0 (Die Norm) und 10 angeben. Dabei kann das System wohl auch unterbewusste Vorurteile aufdecken und reine Token-Kreationen aufdecken.

Mit diesem neuen Diversity Tool möchte Activision Blizzard in Zukunft gegen Stereotypen, Tokenism und andere Probleme ankämpfen. Das System wurde wohl bereits von den Teams von Call of Duty: Vanguard und Overwatch 2 verwendet und mehreren Tests unterzogen. Angeblich fällt das Feedback dieser Entwickler recht positiv aus. Zusätzlich dazu möchte Activision Blizzard das Programm bis zum Ende des Jahres an alle ihre internen Teams weiterleiten. Danach ist eine Veröffentlichung für die gesamte Branche geplant.

Wie sich jeder rational denkende Mensch sicherlich denken kann, wurde die Enthüllung des Diversity Space Tools von der Fangemeinde nicht unbedingt positiv aufgenommen. Gleichzeitig wurde das System auch von mehreren Branchenexperten kritisiert und bemängelt. Für diese Personen ist das Ganze im besten Fall einfach nur für Show und hat keinen wirklichen Vorteil. Im schlimmsten Fall verstärkt das System die Tokenisierung von Charakteren nur noch weiter. Besonders stark kritisiert wurden die vorhandenen Beispielbilder, die Charaktere einfach nur auf simple Zahlenwerte reduzieren und scheinbar rein zufällig bestimmte Charaktere als kultureller als andere Figuren einstufen.

Aufgrund dieser negativen Reaktionen sah sich Activision Blizzard bereits gezwungen etwas Schadensbegrenzung zu leisten und eine Stellungnahme zu veröffentlichen. Laut diesem Beitrag soll das Tool nur bei der Suche nach Trends und Vorurteilen helfen. Gleichzeitig wurde betont, dass das System bisher nur getestet wurde und kein Team es aktiv für die Entwicklung von Spielen verwendet. Zusätzlich dazu wurde die ursprüngliche Ankündigung stark überarbeitet. Die Bilder wurden entfernt, die Hinweise auf die Teams von COD und Overwatch 2 fehlen jetzt und der Beitrag spricht nicht mehr länger von einer Verbreitung des Tools innerhalb der Firma oder der Branche. Die neue Version des Beitrags ist somit deutlich schlechter formuliert und schlechter zu verstehen als das Original.

Diversity in Computerspielen und Medien im Allgemeinen ist ein komplexes Thema. Im Grunde ist es gut, wenn eine Gruppe von Charakteren divers ist und jeder Mensch sich irgendwo wiedererkennen kann. Man darf das Ganze einfach nicht dumm, falsch oder extrem aggressiv angehen. Dieses von Activision Blizzard vorgestellte Tool ist meiner Meinung nach auf jeden Fall der falsche Weg. Damit befürwortet man am Ende nur noch, dass Charaktere erstellt werden, weil sie in eine offene Lücke in einem Plan passen oder eine Token-Rolle einnehmen. Das Ganze hat kaum etwas mit runden, passenden oder interessanten Charakteren für eine gut umgesetzte Geschichte zu tun. Ansonsten wirkt es sogar irgendwie leicht rassistisch, wenn man „weiß“ als die Norm angibt und Charaktere wie beispielsweise Torbjörn dann eine 0 für ihre Kultur erhalten.

We have updated the post to clarify the purpose of this tool, which is one small component of our broader DE&I efforts and is not intended to be a replacement for diverse perspectives. We regret any offense that the original post may have caused. (2/2)

— Activision Blizzard (@ATVI_AB) May 14, 2022

King’s Diversity Space Tool

EDITOR’S NOTE (7:42pm PT – May 13, 2022): There has been conversation online regarding the Diversity Space Tool, particularly concerning its intent and our commitment to diversity. We’ve edited this blog post to clarify that this prototype is not being used in active game development. We would like to add the following comment for additional context:

Started in 2016, the Diversity Space Tool–currently in beta–was designed as an optional supplement to the hard work and focus our teams already place on telling diverse stories with diverse characters, but decisions regarding in-game content have been and will always be driven by development teams. The tool was developed at King, and has been beta tested by several developers across the company, all of whom have provided valuable input. 

The objective of using the tool is to uncover unconscious bias by identifying existing norms in representation and acknowledging opportunities for growth in inclusion. It is not a substitute for any other essential effort by our teams in this regard, nor will it alter our company’s diversity hiring goals. Over the past several years, the development of the tool was done with the support of all our employee DE&I networks, and we collaborated with external partners to create an even more robust tool. 

The tool isn’t meant to be used in isolation;  teams would sit down with company DE&I staff to identify existing norms and then discuss, educate, consult, and collaborate on how a character’s representation is expressed beyond those norms. This process is intended to create a conversation where our developers, assisted by the tool, challenge assumptions, assess choices, and find opportunities for authentic representation to be fostered in our games.

Activision Blizzard is committed to reflecting the diversity of its millions of players around the world through representation and inclusion in its games as well as its employees. Our intent with this blog entry was to share an in-progress piece of our journey in this endeavor. We recognize and respect that all people may be on their own, unique point in their journey with DE&I. The Diversity Space Tool is not a definitive evaluation of diversity in game content; rather, it is a bridge in opening previously unspoken conversations into how thoughtful inclusion can happen – and thrive – in games.

—

With this innovative new system, the character design process now has a tangible way of avoiding tokenism, stereotypes, and exclusion

We want to see ourselves represented in games, we want the barriers to access lowered, and we want games to be a welcoming environment for all. Just look at the 2019 International Game Developers Association (IGDA) “Developer Satisfaction Survey,” which asked developers what they considered to be the most important factor in the growth of the gaming industry. The most common response? “More diversity in content.” It’s not even a question anymore.

However, the question that does remain is this: How do we convert this feedback from collective desire into tangible reality? As expected, the people at King are already thinking a few moves ahead.
In 2016, King began developing a method for guarding against unconscious bias and exclusion when it came to the creation of their games and characters. At the time, this idea existed as an intangible philosophy, but the potential was obvious.

Enter the MIT Game Lab. Alongside King, the MIT techs helped turn a mission statement into tangible software that would create and monitor guidelines for character conception and creation, looking into all the ways basic elements such as gender, body type, roles (“heroes” vs. “villains”) and even such granular factors such as pose, or body movement, can suggest powerful things about a character one way or another. According to King Globalization Project Manager Jacqueline Chomatas, once MIT handed over the basic software, the team at King spent the last few years honing and developing it, mostly as a volunteer effort. People were spending their off-hours working on the tool, simply because they believed in its potential so much.

“An important principle for us at King is that all players should feel welcome,” says Chomatas. “The intention is to inspire game teams not just at King, but throughout the Activision Blizzard King network, to think outside the box and challenge pre-conceived notions around how characters should look and act. As a result, hopefully we will create more characters that break the mold, and better represent women, non-binaries and other under-represented minorities in the industry.”

How It Works

The idea of a “tool” to make characters more diverse and inclusive may seem a little hard to wrap your head around. In practice, it has to be more than just, say, a pop-up reminder that between 2017 and 2021 nearly 80% of the highest selling games in the world featured white, male protagonists (according to a study conducted by Diamond Lobby). It needs to become a part of the incubation process from the start, baked into the pipeline as an unmissable and consistent step – which is exactly what this tool was designed to be.

“The Diversity Space Tool is a measurement device, to help identify how diverse a set of character traits are and in turn how diverse that character and casts are when compared to the ‘norm’,” explains Chomatas. Once it establishes a baseline for typical character traits (which is done by the creative team working closely with DE&I experts), it can then weigh new character designs against it to measure their diversity. During this process, the tool can also uncover unconscious bias, such as why certain traits are seen as “male” vs. “female,” or why characters from certain ethnic backgrounds are given similar personalities or behaviors.

In this effort, the Diversity Space Tool can clearly delineate between token characters and true representation. “[The tool] identifies what stereotypical characters in different genres look like, which are not always the most conducive or representative of diversity,” says Chomatas. “It helps identify those stereotypes, while also helping creatives look closer at their designs, so they can dissect their own assumptions and presets. It also helps identify opportunities for more diverse character narratives, to ensure that we are not only creating diverse characters in appearance alone.”
By starting at the character conception stage, the tool allows King and others, to ask these important questions at the earliest possible moment, to promote more thoughtful creative choices from the ground up – which, in turn, leads to games that are more representative of their player base.

Sharing and Caring

Over the past few months, King has let developer teams at Activision and Blizzard “beta test” the Diversity Space Tool, and the results have been immediate and enthusiastic.

Alayna Cole, DE&I manager at Sledgehammer Games, says the tool was tested by developer teams working on Call of Duty: Vanguard, and it left a sizable impression. “We used [the Diversity Space Tool] to figure out what ‘more diversity’ looks like across all of our characters in both campaign multiplayer and Live seasons,” says Cole. “And now we’re going to use that data going forward into the next games that we’re working on.” The Overwatch 2 team at Blizzard has also had a chance to experiment with the tool, with equally enthusiastic first impressions.

The diverse cast of characters in Call of Duty: Vanguard

The plan is to release the tool internally across Activision Blizzard starting this summer and into Q3, with an eye towards what Chomatas calls “the ultimate goal”: Making the tool available to the industry as a whole.

“We strongly believe in the tool’s potential to change the gaming landscape,” says Chomatas.

Beyond Gaming

While the Diversity Space Tool was designed for use in game character conception, Chomatas also sees it as having broader applications across all entertainment and media platforms. “The traits and measures are applicable to wider entertainment verticals including TV, film, and literature. The only change required if used in these verticals would be the baseline traits, which would need to be calibrated to be relevant to the genre and universe each character exists in.”
Chomatas admits that the application is still evolving – and, in fact, is designed to continuously evolve as “norms” shift and platforms change. In the end, you get out of it what you put into it, and what you choose to take from it.
“Like anything, this is simply a tool that provides insights,” says Chomatas. “It’s up to the teams that create the characters and games to apply them.”

(via)

Anzeige