Horror fans are surely rejoicing a ton of new games being announced and confirmed. Horror is a genre where games are either classically beloved or profoundly disliked, with huge spells of time between new installments or franchise revivals, so any news aboutthe number of horror games being released in the futureis promising. Recently, Twitter user MajorDcps shared an image cataloging several upcoming horror games, includingAlan Wake 2,The Callisto Protocol,Resident Evil 4,Dead Space, andSilent Hill 2.
This infographic is a great depiction ofhorror’s most highly anticipated titles, whether each game is a remake, sequel, or new IP. However, the list portrays each game’s protagonist, and has consequently pointed out a pattern that is not uncommon for the industry. Twitter user JRpotential and more have since responded to this post, remarking on the point of contention that each game’s protagonist is a white male character, suggesting the modern horror genre has a problem with representation to address.
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Upcoming Horror Games are Saturated with White Male Protagonists
The aforementioned list alone points out thatAlan Wake 2’s titular protagonist,The Callisto Protocol’s Jacob Lee,Resident Evil 4’s Leon S. Kennedy,Dead Space’s Isaac Clarke, andSilent Hill 2’s James Sunderland all fit the same demographic. Of course, a character does not need to be representative in order to be well-written or engrossing, but the saturation of white male protagonists has been ubiquitous and diminishes each individual game’s potential for diversity.
This is true ofStar Wars’ lack of representationas much as it is in horror or any other genre, but because horror is having a renaissance with remakes and other modern interpretations, it is going to be unmistakable when a game lacks representation. To be fair, all but two games on the original post’s list are remakes, and thus include their original protagonists. It would make less sense to feature different protagonists in a remake modernizing some original game. Further, it is difficult to imagine anAlan Wakesequel not featuring its eponymous protagonist, who the original game revolves around entirely.
Representation in Horror Games May Rest on New IPs
Rather, a sequel idea could have considered the same thing happening to another character, but that might be perceived as pandering, or representation for representation’s sake. The amount of white protagonists in upcoming horror games is stark, but much of that leans on what games have been chosen for remakes.Resident Evil 3featured a white female protagonist, for example, andif Capcom decides to remakeResident Evil Code: Veronicait could feature another one. This is by no means a wholesale solution, and more games should certainly feature diverse characters to embrace representation in the genre.
That is one of the advantages that new IP has; it can feature whomever the developer would like as its protagonist.The Callisto Protocoldefaulted with another blank canvas of a white male, though his character could still be intriguing. It is unfortunate nonetheless that Karen Fukuhara, who playsThe Callisto Protocol’s Dani Nakamura, was not given a playable protagonist role instead.
There are horror games such asThe Mortuary Assistant,Scorn,Silent Hill 3,Tormented Souls, orGhostwire: Tokyowhere diversity in protagonist choice is a little more evident. But there is still a long way to go before different peoples are represented appropriately, especially in horror media.
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