Diversifying Barbie and Mortal Kombat: Intersectional Perspectives and Inclusive Designs in Gaming

Diversifying Barbie and Mortal Kombat (2017) argues that gender, race, sexuality, and class continue to shape who plays, designs, and is welcomed into video games, and that these inequities are structural rather than the product of individual choice. Positioned as the successor to the 1998 and 2008 editions, the volume responds to events such as GamerGate and the #1ReasonWhy and #RealDiversityNumbers campaigns, which the editors present as evidence that harassment of women and the industry's lack of diversity remain unresolved. Its central thesis is that broadening participation in gaming requires intersectional research that examines how overlapping identities affect play and career opportunities, along with inclusive design practices introduced early in development and supported by policy.

The contributions span a wide scope, with a focus on the United States alongside comparative work on South Korea and a cross-national survey of more than 1,500 gamers. Empirical evidence includes survey research on harassment and stereotype threat, ethnographic studies of Mexican-American families and white male gamers, analyses of tweets from women in the industry, and a college-access serious game study in which players showed higher college knowledge, with the authors noting that larger randomized trials are needed. The data also document persistent disparities: women held about 22% of U.S. game industry jobs as of 2015, and Black developers were roughly 3% of the workforce against 13% of the population.

Several chapters move from diagnosis to practice. Contributors describe the organizing models of the Different Games and Feminists in Games initiatives, present implicit-bias research and "embedded design" techniques that reduce stereotyping without triggering reactance, and examine romance mechanics and sex-positive frameworks for educational games. The volume's conclusion is that inclusion is an ongoing practice requiring accountability, mentorship, and deliberate design choices, rather than a fixed goal achieved through quotas or marketing.