--- description: A video-game trade group, inspired by the Bechdel Test, will study games' portrayals of women title: Sweden Considering Labels for Sexist Video Games image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbaa9dd55d5809f30/698768f9524fc0028fdeabf1/458040432.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Video Games](/tag/video-games/) ## Video Games Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Sweden Considers Special Labels for Sexist Video Games ## Video: Know Right Now: U.S. Pope Visit, Ferguson Decision, NFL Drug Raids, Great Chocolate Shortage [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: U.S. Pope Visit, Ferguson Decision, NFL Drug Raids, Great Chocolate Shortage](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Wc181Ize.m3u8) (1:19)  _Published 2014-11-17. Here are the trending stories for Monday Nov. 17_  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 16, 2014 9:45 PM CUT  Gamers play video games with the PS4 consoles of PlayStation during the International Games Week on Oct. 29, 2014, in Paris Gamers play video games with the PS4 consoles of PlayStation during the International Games Week on Oct. 29, 2014, in ParisChesnot—Getty Images  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 16, 2014 9:45 PM CUT A government-funded innovation agency in Sweden is considering [creating specials label for video games](http://www.thelocal.se/20141113/sweden-mulls-sexist-game-labels "undefined") based on whether or not the games’ portrayals of women are sexist. Inspired by [the Bechdel Test](http://time.com/3392463/alison-bechdel-test-macarthur-prize/ "undefined"), 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](http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/01/27/women-remain-outsiders-video-game-industry/275JKqy3rFylT7TxgPmO3K/story.html "undefined") 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.” \[[_The Local_](http://www.thelocal.se/20141113/sweden-mulls-sexist-game-labels "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3587853/sweden-video-games/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3587853/sweden-video-games/"},"headline":"Sweden Considers Special Labels for Sexist Video Games","datePublished":"2014-11-16T21:45:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:28:06.235Z","description":"A video-game trade group, inspired by the Bechdel Test, will study games' portrayals of women","url":"https://time.com/3587853/sweden-video-games/","keywords":["Video Games","sweden"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbaa9dd55d5809f30/698768f9524fc0028fdeabf1/458040432.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbaa9dd55d5809f30/698768f9524fc0028fdeabf1/458040432.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Paris Games Week : Press Preview","caption":"Paris Games Week : Press Preview","creditText":"Chesnot—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/video-games/","name":"Video Games"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3587853/sweden-video-games/","name":"Sweden Considers Special Labels for Sexist Video Games"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A History of Video Gaming Consoles","description":"The full series on gaming consoles packed into one video for you to watch.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/c8bQ37tV/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-01-08T16:50:03.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/c8bQ37tV.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3587853/sweden-video-games/","duration":"PT23M45S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3587853/sweden-video-games/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: U.S. Pope Visit, Ferguson Decision, NFL Drug Raids, Great Chocolate Shortage","description":"Here are the trending stories for Monday Nov. 17","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Wc181Ize/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-11-17T16:22:06.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Wc181Ize.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3587853/sweden-video-games/","duration":"PT1M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3587853/sweden-video-games/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```