Ahead of the release of Square Enix’s Forspoken, there were concerns about representation. Frey, the game’s Black female protagonist, was described in a 2021 preview session as having a “hip-hoppy kind of walk”, as well as being “an orphan” and “very angry”, raising eyebrows at the perpetuation of negative Black stereotypes.
Before the game’s release earlier this year, paid consultants were asked to play a pre-release build of the game, including a representative from Black Girl Gamers, a 10,000-stong community organisation with lived experience of Black cultures and heritage that consults on various elements of the games industry, and whose founder Jay-Ann Lopez I caught up with to find out more.
“Due to the nature of our contract, we cannot disclose specific suggestions, however, we were pleased to see that some of our input was reflected in the final version of the game,” Lopez wrote in a Twitter thread after Forspoken released. However, some suggestions from the group had not been included, Lopez said, including those regarding “colourism and texturism” (a preference for Eurocentric standards of hair: smoother, looser hairstyles over tighter curls, braids, or afros).
“As a trusted voice in gaming, diversity, and inclusivity, we were brought in. We had an opportunity to weigh in on the game – especially given that it is one of the first games to feature a fantasy female protagonist of Black descent.