The feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian is to appear in a video game, courtesy of the indie archery battler TowerFall. She is one of 10 selectable characters in the title’s Dark World expansion pack.
Sarkeesian is best known for her series of YouTube videos, Tropes vs Women in Video Games, which analyse the depiction of women in franchises such as Grand Theft Auto, Donkey Kong and Hitman. Her largely mainstream feminist interpretations of game design culture have angered some gamers, to the extent that she chose to cancel a speaking engagement last year because of terror threats.
Matt Thorson, developer of TowerFall, said in a blogpost that the inclusion of Sarkeesian in the game was a tribute to the critic, who faces continual abuse on social media; she has pointed out that Princess Peach is rarely a playable character in the Mario series and that in Red Dead Redemption the player can earn achievement points by hog-tying a woman and leaving her on a railway track to be squashed by a train.
“Anita’s work has been an inspiration to the TowerFall team,” wrote Thorson. “Her Tropes vs Women in Games video series gave us a valuable new lens through which to assess our character designs. TowerFall is about bringing people together, so it’s vitally important that the cast of playable characters makes everyone feel invited to join in. Simply put, this wouldn’t have occurred to me if not for Anita, and feedback from players has reinforced how important it really is. We’re very excited to immortalise Anita in a small way.”
Sarkeesian’s videos argue that often female game characters face deadly harm as a context for bloody male-perpetrated revenge, and that this could contribute toward a culture in which threatening violence against women is normalised. It is a suggestion that some have disagreed with so strongly that, in 2014, the organisers of the Game Developer’s Choice award ceremony in San Francisco were emailed a bomb threat if Sarkeesian appeared.
Tweeting about the announcement, Sarkeesian wrote: “Can I just say again how awesome it is to be the inspiration for a playable character in the TowerFall expansion!” She pointed out the character’s use of her trademark hooped earrings – and the cape she wears to menace defenceless game players.
