Sweden Considers Special Labels for Sexist Video Games

A government-funded innovation agency in Sweden is considering creating specials label for video games based on whether or not the games’ portrayals of women are sexist.

Inspired by the Bechdel Test, Vinnova is paying the Swedish video-game trade organization Dataspelsbranchen approximately $36,672 to study the industry’s female characters, the Local reports.

“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,” said project manager Anton Albiin, who notes that it has not been determined whether all Swedish games would be graded on their treatment of women or whether only games with positive portrayals would receive special labels.

Only 16% of people working in Sweden’s growing, $935 million gaming industry are women, according to Dataspelsbranchen. (In 2013, the Boston Globe reported that in the U.S. women made up 3% of video-game programmers and 11% of designers.)

“Of course games can be about fantasy, but they can be so much more than this,” Albiin said. “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 thing.”

[The Local]