The racially and culturally insensitive use of Arabic language says otherwise. Valorant is supposed to be a game that has nothing to do with modern day politics and stereotypes. In fact, this was troubling enough to make me turn off the stream. “The big thing for us with maps is we want to make sure that every time we add a new map there’s something new and unique about it - there’s a reason for it to be in the game.” - Trevor Romleski, lead game designer, in an interview with PC Gamer It bothers me to know that every design choice is intentional, every detail edited and chosen to be included, that someone consciously spent time designing, placing and supervising this detail. However, the use of Arabic language in Valorant is a poor design decision, reinforcing an already problematic trend.Įspecially considering that the game is supposedly set in an alternate reality, the design choice is racially insensitive and frankly doesn’t make much sense. The unfortunate popularity of western counterterrorism games being set in the Middle East is no new phenomenon. Hence the choice of a desert setting - an ostensibly Middle Eastern location. In CS:GO, Counter terrorism is literally in the DNA and objective of the game. CS:GO, for instance, is a game built on top of the western military industrial complex that stigmatizes Arabs as terrorists. It’s well known that Hollywood is one of most egregious offenders of race-based stereotypes, often labelling Russians/Chinese as hackers and Arabs as bombers. Maybe most players won’t stop to smell the flowers and look at the walls, but hundreds of playthroughs later, won’t players be conditioned by the association of Arabic + bomb + terrorism? But it’s a dangerous and irksome design choice because it contributes to an already large amount of American media that overtly links the Arabic language, and by extension, the Middle East (or ‘Arabs themselves’), with terrorism.Īrabic writing in the bottom right of the screenshot - Gamer Journalistįor context, the objective of the game is to eliminate players /set a bomb or, if on the opposing side, eliminate players/ diffuse the planted bomb. Given all the thorough and detailed work done on Valorant, a game that prides itself on level design, this may be seen by most as an insignificant detail. Lupo’s stream, there is one aspect of the game that gave me pause: the Arabic writing on the walls in the map called ‘Bind’. For me, one of the best parts of Valorant is its fantastical nature, set in a lore that Riot Games has spent over a decade crafting.Īs I devoted half my attention to work and half to Dr. Yet, some say that Valorant can unseat the FPS king: it rivals in mechanics and enjoyment, map design, and even introduces a new skill/spell function, producing an environment that welcomes players from all skill levels. CS:GO has staying power, brand loyalty and talent. In large part, it’s based off of CS:GO (Counter Strike Global Offensive, a game produced by the publisher, Valve), which, released eight years ago, boasted a recent record high of 1 million concurrent players. There is no doubt Valorant is the first person shooter (FPS) from kingdom come. You check every couple hours to see if on the small chance, among the thousands viewing the stream, you’re the lucky person who got a Valorant beta key. One screen shows your productivity, but secretly minimized in the background is a Twitch stream of your favorite streamer playing Valorant. If you’re like me, you might be diligently working at home.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |