Welcome to our weekly feature, “Question Of The Week.” As you can tell from that entirely original title each week we pose a question to our panel and they chime in with their opinions. No one sees one another’s responses until the story is posted, so each contributors thoughts are their own. Responses are posted in no particular order.
And remember, as with all editorials, the views expressed in this editorial are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Cliqist.com.
The question of the week for the week of 8/3/14 is :
Should developers that crowdfund carry a greater social responsibility with the games they create?
[divider]Marcus Estrada
Although I would love to suggest that, yes, crowdfunding developers should work to be more socially conscious with their games, I don’t think it’s fair to expect that of them all. At least, no more so than we expect it from big name studios. Obviously, the tides are changing in this regard (slowly but surely!) but right now many people don’t even have much knowledge about “social responsibility” beyond some basics. There’s definitely a need to self-educate if you’re going to then implement these concepts into designing something. If a developer were to prove that they were cognizant of issues of representation it would make me (and likely many others) more interested in funding their project, though!
To read more of Marcus’ work click here. To learn more about them check out our About Us page.
[divider]Nathaniel Liles
It’s really hard to comment on this, because I’m one of the few people who is conflicted about the way the gaming culture handles the under representation of women and minorities. I certainly think that game developers shouldn’t be so hung up on the typical straight white space marine, but alternatively, I consider video games a developing medium of art, and we have no right to demand things from game developers. It compromises the artistic integrity of something when we try to bend it to our will, but at the same time… We shouldn’t have to. Game developers shouldn’t need to be told to create all-inclusive experiences.
To read more of Nathaniels’ work click here. To learn more about them check out our About Us page.
[divider]Greg Micek
I don’t think they developers who crowdfund have a social responsibility per say, but they are missing an opportunity to deliver on something it seems a lot of people are looking for. There’s a lot of talk about the need for equality for all in gaming, but very few people seem to be attempting to do something about it. You would think that Kickstarter would be a sea of strong female characters, openly gay protagonists, and stories focusing on important issues; but it’s not. It’s mostly a lower budget extension of the mainstream games industry, or a continuation of hipster indie games.
To read more of Gregs’ work click here. To learn more about them check out our About Us page.
[divider]Have a question you’d like our panel to answer? Post it below, or email greg@cliqist.com with your toughest crowdfunding questions! If you’d like to check out some of our previous Questions Of The Week., then go right ahead!
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