Marginalised Narratives and Mythologies in Games

Defining who and what marginalised stories are in gaming can be extremely difficult depending on our personal perspectives, so it may be easier to understand what it is not. Marginalised gaming stories are essentially not those that centre white cis-hetero normative experiences exclusively. Titles like Assassin's Creed 3, TellTales, The Walking Dead series, and Life is Strange: True Colours can all step in as examples of marginalised tales in gaming, but only in terms of representation, not authorship.

When speaking of ‘marginalised’ stories and players in gaming, these include those who are generally at high risk in our society. Class is one major factor, but ethnic and racial identification, gender, nationality, and disabilities are all things that should be considered when invoking this phrase as well. We also must understand that these stories are not told and experienced in the same way across the board, which means that Indigenous tales in digital storytelling are also different from locality to locality.

Is the gaming industry actually broken when it comes to marginalised identities, inclusion, their representation, and telling their stories?

Attempting to define a marginalised experience is the first part of the challenge, but what proof is there of a “broken” gaming industry that does not accommodate these tales and realities of the outsider? Are these just broad generalisations that people make due to the pretense of living within an inherently inadequate world that values white cis-hetero normative experiences over all others? These questions are not new by any means but are constantly...