Between Diverse Industry and Game Characters: An Analysis of Tool-based Representation Design

This analysis examines the King's Diversity Space (KDS), a web-based tool for inclusive character creation developed through a collaboration between King, Activision Blizzard, and the MIT Game Lab, with characters tied to Overwatch 2. Drawing on an expert interview with lead collaborator Mikael Jakobsson alongside public promotional material, the study situates itself at the intersection of character representation and game production. It asks how the developers' public communication shaped the research-industry partnership and how such collaborations might address systemic problems in the games industry, where diverse representation often remains superficial and where live-service models intensify tensions over developer power and player agency.

The central finding concerns a mismatch between purpose and presentation. The tool was conceived as an iterative design aid rather than a measurement instrument, yet Activision Blizzard's promotional framing presented it as a quantifiable solution to representation. This distortion, according to the analysis, cost the research team ownership, access, and influence over the project. The interview further surfaces corporate culture problems, the departure of marginalized contributors, and the eventual inaccessibility of the tool itself, findings that point to structural rather than incidental obstacles to inclusive design work.

From these findings the authors draw recommendations centered on equitable collaboration terms. They argue that partnerships should guarantee educational access to research outputs regardless of corporate control, provide proper accreditation and shared authorship for marginalized contributors, notably women designers, and allow researchers to set objectives rather than having arrangements dictated chiefly by non-disclosure agreements and intellectual property control.

The authors acknowledge a significant limitation: their evidence rests largely on a single expert interview supplemented by secondhand accounts. They call for further case studies, research incorporating public and player perspectives, and more transparent industry practices. Without such transparency extending beyond marketing materials, they conclude, the intersectional engagement with character representation that the study explores remains largely inaccessible to scholars and the public alike.