Sweden Considers Implementing ‘Sexist’ Label on Video Games

The Swedish game industry trade organization, Dataspelsbranchen has announced a new project that may see future games produced in Sweden labeled according to whether or not they promote gender equality. The project follows in the wake of the recent “GamerGate” fiasco, which has been associated with the harassment of women in the game industry.

Swedish newspaper The Local reports that the key goal for the association is to avoid sexism and gender stereotypes in video games produced in the country, which has been given a 272,000 kronor ($36,672) grant by the Swedish government-funded innovation agency, Vinnova to pursue the project.

The project appears to be inspired by the Bechdel test, which looks at whether fictional books and films feature at least two women talking about a topic other than men, and Dataspelsbranchen intends to work with several game developers to figure out how Swedish video games can portray female characters and gender issues.

According to the project manager Anton Albiin, it is unclear at this stage if all games produced in sweden would be given a label, or if companies developing games that promoted equality would be given a certification to use for their own marketing purposes. 

"I do not know of any other project in the world asking this question and of course we want Sweden to be a beacon in this area,” he said. 

Asked whether focusing on diversity could detract from the creativity and fantasy sought by game developers, Albiin replied:

"Of course games can be about fantasy but they can be so much more than this. They can also be a form of cultural expression – reflecting society or the society we are hoping for. Games can help us to create more diverse workplaces and can even change the way we think about things".