In understanding how blackness is viewed by players in online pc gaming, it is imperative to look at how blackness and black people are viewed and portrayed in AAA industry titles. While, these two categories are not always in direct contact, there exist an undeniable connection between games spaces and the games industry, in that AAA titles often set a precedence for what is and is not acceptable for other games. While, there are forms of resistance from entities like Indie game companies, popular AAA titles still work as the hegemonic umbrella which informs the rest of the games market. Thus, it is imperative to examine how blackness is portrayed within AAA games to see how smaller markets and spaces may have been informed.
CJ from Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas is a character which displays the complicated nature of race in gaming. Grand Theft Auto is a game which parodies and simulates gang and criminal activity into a sandbox style video game. CJ, a black man, is the main playable character of his game, allowing players to take control of the black body to steal cars, assault people, and defy the police. While it would be easy to say CJ is a stereotypical and harmfully portrayed character, he comes with layers within gameplay. Not only is performing the same behavior players committed by white characters in the past and he does so with a new added depth to his character showing additionally emotion and at times care for his friends throughout the game. Additionally, CJ is a beloved character within the black gaming community and San Andreas is often noted as the best in the series. However, while the game was intended to be parody, what happens when it is taken seriously by its players? CJ while beloved was in turn yet another black violent character, while previous white GTA characters had white valiant and heroic counter parts all throughout gaming, CJ did not. In this way CJ while being loved in turn worked to cement stereotypes for players and gamers and became a sort of go to for black game character until more nuanced characters like Aveline de Grandpré from Assassin’s Creed made their appearance.
Akil Fletcher. 13 December 2019, "How does the industry view black people?", Center for Ethnography, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 13 December 2019, accessed 19 December 2024. http://centerforethnography.org/content/how-does-industry-view-black-people