Current Events > Competitive Gaming - A great equalizer? (About Racial Diversity)

(+) Yeah! (+)

In our diverse world we sometimes complain about the lack of diversity in certain areas (e.g. Hollywood is too white, the NFL and NBA are too black, Asians are over-represented in Academics, etc.) I do think it's a noteworthy observation - although whether it is a big issue is another topic.

But after attending the EVO tournament for the past two years and observing Fighting Game communities, I noticed that the crowd was pretty diverse (albeit mostly male gamers, though.) There's all kinds of gamers - white, black, Hispanic, Asian, etc. I was pretty impressed and not only were the attendees diverse, they all got along pretty well. There was camaraderie among all gamers and it was nice to see.

So now, questions for the discussion:

-Aside from the lack of female gamers, do you agree that the gaming community is the most diverse community out there?

-If so, why is the gaming community diverse compared to other communities?

There many be other questions I'd like to ask, but I'll see how the discussion goes first.
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1) For the most part yes.
2) Low to non-existent barrier of entry.
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1. Yes. You got people from all backgrounds and age groups playing them.

2. It's not rocket science. Video games are one of the best avenues for escapism, entertainment and socialization (multiplayer games) which are universal appeals for pretty much everyone regardless of background.

PikachuMaxwell posted...

-If so, why is the gaming community diverse compared to other communities?

I remember reading this great article awhile back that explained that fighting communities has always had great diversity because there is not a high price of entry. You did not need a nice PC that only upper middle class kids can afford (which is the reason why the vast majority of league of legends pros, or hell most pro scenes with pc games in general, tend to be white or asian dudes. I'm not just saying this, this was also pointed out in the article I am talking about.)...all you needed was a single quarter to get up in the fun, which meant the arcades is where majority of the lower and middle class kids went to play video games back in the day. This is also why SNK games are huge in south america...cheap price of entry, plus neo geo games being easily pirated=a lot of poor kids get to play. They grow up on these games and become future pros. A lot of the older fighting game pros you see today got good from all the time they spent in arcades as a kid, and for the most part, no one cared what race you were.

At the end of the day, it definitely is the most diverse gaming community there is.

Now as far as the gaming community as a whole, when it comes to online gaming.....nah, we still got a whole shit-ton of work to do on that front.

As long as we still got shit like this going on:

http://www.pcgamer.com/how-terrencems-amazing-dreamhack-hearthstone-run-was-marred-by-twitch-chat-racism/

https://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/04/overwatch-pros-racist-tirade-ends-his-career/

http://kotaku.com/korean-woman-kicks-ass-at-overwatch-gets-accused-of-ch-1782343447

Then there is the general harassment minorities and women get from simply opening their mouth in your average online shooter game on playstation network, xbox live, or wherever else, etc.

The online gaming scene, fighting games aside, will always feel like a white/asian dudes only club. It can improve, but looking at your average twitch chat every time someone black shows up, this is going to take a looooong time, lol.
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I don't think the age groups are diverse, if we are speaking of competitive (i.e. tournament style with prize money) gaming. Yes, you get some players who are fairly young, but the core group of competitive gamers is probably between 15-25. I've been to tourneys where sponsors discouraged tourney organizers from registering pre-teens because of the ESRB ratings on games like Mortal Kombat and Call of Duty, for example. Of course, we also hardly ever see anyone in the mid-thirties and up. I'm not talking about old people winning tourneys, I mean just registering and playing. Gaming companies do not market or design games for older demographics.

We could have a discussion on the lack of disabled competitors as well. Off the top of my head, I can only think of BrolyLegs who plays Street Fighter with his mouth. Video games almost completely exclude disabled players from competitive gaming.
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MadDewg posted...

I remember reading this great article awhile back that explained that fighting communities has always had great diversity because there is not a high price of entry. You did not need a nice PC that only upper middle class kids can afford (which is the reason why the vast majority of league of legends pros, or hell most pro scenes with pc games in general, tend to be white or asian dudes. I'm not just saying this, this was also pointed out in the article I am talking about.)...all you needed was a single quarter to get up in the fun, which meant the arcades is where majority of the lower and middle class kids went to play video games back in the day. This is also why SNK games are huge in south america...cheap price of entry, plus neo geo games being easily pirated=a lot of poor kids get to play. They grow up on these games and become future pros. A lot of the older fighting game pros you see today got good from all the time they spent in arcades as a kid, and for the most part, no one cared what race you were.

At the end of the day, it definitely is the most diverse gaming community there is.

Now as far as the gaming community as a whole, when it comes to online gaming.....nah, we still got a whole shit-ton of work to do on that front.

As long as we still got shit like this going on:

http://www.pcgamer.com/how-terrencems-amazing-dreamhack-hearthstone-run-was-marred-by-twitch-chat-racism/

https://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/04/overwatch-pros-racist-tirade-ends-his-career/

http://kotaku.com/korean-woman-kicks-ass-at-overwatch-gets-accused-of-ch-1782343447

Then there is the general harassment minorities and women get from simply opening their mouth in your average online shooter game on playstation network, xbox live, or wherever else, etc.

The online gaming scene, fighting games aside, will always feel like a white/asian dudes only club. It can improve, but looking at your average twitch chat every time someone black shows up, this is going to take a looooong time, lol.

I think this is a pretty good analysis, thanks!
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Lorenzo_2003 posted...

I don't think the age groups are diverse, if we are speaking of competitive (i.e. tournament style with prize money) gaming. Yes, you get some players who are fairly young, but the core group of competitive gamers is probably between 15-25. I've been to tourneys where sponsors discouraged tourney organizers from registering pre-teens because of the ESRB ratings on games like Mortal Kombat and Call of Duty, for example. Of course, we also hardly ever see anyone in the mid-thirties and up. I'm not talking about old people winning tourneys, I mean just registering and playing. Gaming companies do not market or design games for older demographics.

We could have a discussion on the lack of disabled competitors as well. Off the top of my head, I can only think of BrolyLegs who plays Street Fighter with his mouth. Video games almost completely exclude disabled players from competitive gaming.

You make interesting points about age and disability.

Although regarding age, maybe mental ability (such as judgement and reflexes) has something to do with it? Younger players minds' are still developing, and older players may not have fast reflexes as they had in their prime. This is just speculation, though. But the demographics argument makes sense.
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