One gamer asked if character customization in Starfield would be any more complicated than it was in Skyrim, and Howard responded that he was “really excited” about what the development team had done in this area. Specifically, he also noted that players would be able to pick their pronouns between “they,” “she,” and “he,” and all relevant dialogue would support whichever choice the player makes. While this is certainly progress, there are more small changes in the same vein that would take this inclusion a step further.
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Nonbinary Pronouns and Genderfluidity in Character Customization
The sad truth is that AAA gaming, like most mainstream media, is behind on this front, though Bethesda’s efforts to make change are definitely appreciated by the queer community. There’s been a lack of inclusion for what’s considered “outside of the norm” by society. So while gay, lesbian, and bisexual sexualities have become accepted on a larger level (though not completely, unfortunately) and often get a romantic spotlight in AAA games in some form or another, gender identity has yet to be confronted as frequently outside of indie games, which is a great space to experience the topic but doesn’t broach the gaming community at large.
If anything, it’s often misinterpreted. Exhibit A is Tell Me Why, a game similar to DONTNOD’s Life is Strange series, which also tackles many LGBTQIA+ lifestyles and issues. It accurately represented a trans man without making it Tyler’s entire personality and painted it in a positive light. Then, The Last of Us Part 2 faced controversy for its deadnaming and general excessive violence towards its trans teen character Lev. Finally, Cyberpunk 2077 marketed itself in a positive light for including options not to choose male or female genitalia. While this is true, the problem stemmed from its two voice selection options; if the player chose the feminine voice, V would be referred to as a female throughout the game, and if they chose the masculine, referred to as male. Among nonbinary and trans people, making assumptions based on voice tones often leads to misgendering.
However, Starfield will supposedly include options that will allow others to refer to the character with they/them pronouns, which likely means recording additional voice tracks for NPCs, and possibly even for the protagonists. Similarly, a few small actions could be taken to be inclusive of other genderfluid identities as well.
What More Inclusion Would Entail
The caveat to Bethesda’s decision to include they/their pronouns, there are more pronouns, or lack of pronouns, used by folks who don’t identify with any gender or may have an otherwise heightened identification with genderfluidity. One common example is the use of the Ze/Hir and Ze/Zir pronouns, which are used so as not to assume a person’s gender based on attributes or attire. “Ze” can refer to a person who is male, female, nonbinary, genderneutral, or anything else, but is meant to be ambiguous.
Though the use of no pronouns has become something of an internet joke in recent months, i.e. “do not refer to me,” it’s actually a legitimate identity. One prominent example is the singer of Queen Bee, which has done opening themes for many anime series including Tokyo Ghoul and Dororo, Avu-chan. When referring to Avu-chan, people should not even use they/them pronouns, but can refer to Avu-chan either by name or genderless nouns such as “singer” or “performer.”
It does get complicated when contemplating every different pronoun and when it should or shouldn’t be used. However, there are ways in which the gaming industry and Starfield can make strides to include Ze/Zir and Ze/Hir as well as be void of any pronouns entirely for folks like Avu-chan.
The solution here for Bethesda and Starfield as well as its other upcoming titles like The Elder Scrolls 6 might actually be simple: recording additional voice tracks to include other options like referring to characters without gendered pronouns and only by their name as well as lesser common pronouns such as Ze/Zir and Ze/Hir based on the options that selected. And with AI voice models and voice acting technology more sophisticated than ever, emulating additional words without having to spend more time in the recording studio may even make this more feasible. Indeed, there are options available even currently; it’s whether or not studios want to take that leap of inclusion toward a minority group, and doing so by such a major developer would leave a resounding precedent for the rest of the industry.
Starfield releases November 11, 2022 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
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