Pune-based SuperGaming has created a game based on Olympian shooter Heena Sidhu and it will be available to play in the battle royale game Indus

At the risk of making this seem like a token, I would like to admit how this is Game On’s first article on gender, women, and games in 2023. Apart from the disappointing experience of Forspoken and the discussion on the trans community surrounding Hogwarts Legacy there has been little to dwell about.

Sometimes no news is a positive sign considering 2022 was a horrendous year for gender equality with several cases of discrimination and harassment coming to light at gaming giants like Activision Blizzard and Riot. Such was the vitriol surrounding the frat boy culture in the gaming industry that Microsoft’s mega money acquisition of Activision Blizzard was overshadowed by concerns of righting the ship with regards to gender.

In terms of the positives on the gender equality front, the recent success of the Women’s Premier League is mirrored by Pune-based SuperGaming’s creation of a female character based on Olympian shooter Heena Sidhu. The character which will soon be available to play in the battle royale game Indus, is being developed according to the game’s makers as a key part of the game’s world and according to the press release her in-game actions will make her a “living legend.”

This development is a welcome positive step in a country where both gender equality and the gaming industry have miles to go before, we can bask in our achievements.

On the esports front, the industry is beginning to gain traction as organizations like the Bengaluru based The EsportsClub have successfully managed to secure significant funding to spark possibilities of professional, high-quality play in games like Tom Clancy Rainbow Six Siege and CS: GO.

Would these developments provide girls and women in the country the necessary opportunities and platforms to aspire for accolades and livelihoods in gaming or the country’s nascent game development industry are key questions to consider if the medium’s potential in the country is to be realized in the next few decades.

In terms of play, the Indian players’ communities continue to remain as unwelcoming as ever to women players. I cannot help but recall from my eighteen-month-old conversations with some of the country’s most successful women streamers when I was told how it was common for male players to ask them to “go make a sandwich” during sessions of play. I have encountered similar gender-focused vitriol in my online play sessions too as I have often found female gamers hesitate to unmute their microphones and hold fellow male players accountable for their actions.

I may come across as a cynic when I say that Heena Sidhu’s Keanu Reeves like stint in Indus may not amount to much when one captures India’s infinitesimal engagements with Battle Royale games in 2023 because we have done very little to foster gender equality in the way we play or make games.

With free-to-play mobile games we have a unique opportunity to make games gender-equal, democratic, and accessible but seizing it is a completely different story.