Blog 8: Inclusive Gaming

 

Inclusive Gaming:
The Importance of Inclusivity

Growing up with an older brother, I was always watching him play video games like Call of Duty, Minecraft, Left 4 Dead, and Transformers. Even though I wasn’t yet allowed to play my own video games, my brother and I often bonded over this time together. My first experience playing my own video games was when I got a LeapFrog for Christmas when I was 4 years old. While video games like the ones my brother played were often too mature for kids my age, the LeapFrog offered a large variety of age-appropriate games for me.

Thinking about the topic of gaming inclusivity, I now realize the significance of the LeapFrog and how it changed the world of gaming for younger age groups. Watching my brother play video games was a completely different experience from playing them myself, and the LeapFrog allowed me to play entertaining games that were actually beneficial for a child my age.

As I got older, I began playing similar games that my brother played, like Minecraft, Call of Duty, and Fortnite, but even though we played the same games, our experiences were a little different. I have always been careful when playing online games and didn’t really speak with players I didn’t know, but when it came to some of my male gamer friends, some of them would make fun of me a little bit or doubt my gaming abilities. I sometimes found myself needing to prove myself to them to earn their respect as a female gamer, but my brother never had to prove himself to his friends or other players online.

Reading Jenny Shi’s story in her article “What Inclusion Means to Players,” I felt I could relate to her feelings a lot. I have had many guys try to put me down for playing video games, but I’ve been very blessed to have my own “guy in the baseball cap” who sticks up for me and encourages my love for video games, and that has always been my brother (Shi, 2019). The friends that I continue to play games with, as well as my brother, are always inclusive, and they never disregard my gaming abilities. With that kind of encouragement, I have even been able to encourage my other female friends to play video games as well, and from there, I feel I am a part of a very inclusive group of gamers. While I know not all girls have this kind of support, I think the gaming community would benefit from more players like my brother and my friends. Inclusivity would not only benefit big gaming companies by bringing in more players, but it would also benefit many of the gamers out there who are just looking for groups that love gaming just as much as they do.

References

Shi, J. (2019, March 7). What Inclusion Means to Players. Medium. Retrieved March 27, 2026, from https://medium.com/@Electronic_Arts/what-inclusion-means-to-players-db4522bdd8a0