Conclusions

Representations of disability appear to be particularly important in games due to the essential social and cultural role of games. Their character is also much more engaging, also physically, compared to the reception of film or literature. As one of the industry representatives, Harvey Smith, pointed out: “in a game, when you ‘play a character,’ you are either adopting a role, taking on the predetermined characteristics of a mock person developed by someone else, or you are expressing your individual selfhood, acting by the compass of your own identity.”39 Therefore, watching people with disabilities in movies or reading about them in literary texts is not the same as playing them and interacting with them in an immerse way within a video game.

In his book, “Play Matters,” Miguel Sicart indicated even a wider context of games and claimed that “to play is to be in the world; playing is a form of understanding what surrounds us and a way of engaging with others. Play goes beyond games; it is a mode of being human” (Sicart 2014, p.1).

Therefore, frequent playing characters with disabilities is virtual being them, which is beneficial in both directions. Through games, people with disabilities can feel represented, while able-bodied players can learn about the world of people with disabilities almost with their senses (with the limitations related to simulating a disability, which Siebers wrote about). This context of manifestation of rights and dignity is particularly visible in the actions undertaken by players, both able-bodied and those with disabilities, to enrich the world of the game Sims with characters with disabilities.

The full-fledged and more common presence of characters with disabilities in games appears to be a great opportunity to better understand the needs and the specificity of this community; it would also contribute to eliminating mental limitations within the large community of players, who often perceive disabilities in a stereotypical way and as sources of fear, rather than removing barriers for people with disabilities.

Certain games seem to use this potential. The report has indicated examples of games focused on disability or diseases that may lead to it, such as Hell Blade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Ether

39 https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131798/player_character_concepts.php?page=2

One, Perception, Wheelchair Simulator, The Quiet Man, and others. Making disability the starting point for these games, whether in the narrative layer or in mechanics, demonstrates that a consistent reference to a deep level of experiences, feelings, and forms of reality perception by people with disabilities allows for the creation of unique games that are appealing to players and have a high social impact. These bold attempts are not always effective—sometimes the game’s mechanics, narrative, or interface solutions are clunky, burdensome, and discouraging; still, the use of disability as the basis for the construction of games deserves great recognition. The problem turns out to be the fact that most of such games are created by independent developers. Therefore, it seems that large commercial game studios are afraid of venturing into “risky” topics.

Our research has shown, first and foremost, that the topic of disability in games is marginalized. As the participants of the focus group interview pointed out, while representatives of various minorities are able to gradually strive for a greater presence in mainstream games, there is still much to be done in terms of representing disability. The main “crimes” of the gaming industry related to the following aspects:

1. The game developers frequently use what can be described as “transhumanist camouflage.” In theory, a large group of games shows characters with disabilities, but this disability is fully “fixed,” compensated by futuristic implants, prostheses, and exoskeletons.

2. In the gaming world, there is a deficiency of disability representation in selected game genres. Sports games are an example where, first and foremost, characters with disabilities appear infrequently, and second, there are virtually no games that feature sports disciplines done people with disabilities.40

3. “Awkwardness of the subject”—the game designers often avoid the topic of disability in games, on the one hand, for fear of offending the community of people with disabilities by introducing unacceptable, schematic characters into games, and on

40 In the course of the analysis, we have only found a comment by a known Polish commentator— Dariusz Szpakowski, in FIFA 2018 about the Wroclaw Disabled Supporters Association and a baseball player in a wheelchair—Kenny Kawaguchi, featured in Backyard Baseball Junior; currently (2021) Big Karma is working on Phenoms, an original sports manager in which the player’s task is to train several Paralympic athletes.

the other hand, the developers are aware that working on sophisticated disability mechanics requires more work and financial resources, as well as a non-standard approach to their development.

4. A fairly common problem appears in game plots; it has previously been identified in literature and film and is related to the use of disability as “narrative prostheses”— the focus group participants indicated that one of the most common ways of using disability in games is to present it as a punishment for various faults and misdeeds of a character. In addition, there are other “easy” narrative clichés such as showing disability as a result of wounds sustained in combat or, for example, as an expressive trait and visual indicator of villains.

5. Representations of disability featured in games are dominated by portraying disability of the locomotor system, the external sign of which is a wheelchair. Many forms of disability, especially sensory and cognitive, are overlooked because of their visual unattractiveness.

The suggestions for the game industry, indicated by the participants of our focus group interview, concerning the representation of disability in games, were primarily related to the need to increase the possibilities of self-construction of characters by players. In this situation, disability is a choice to consider, but it also has a specific impact on the gameplay. The game characters may evolve into expressive emblems of inclusive diversity in this way. On the other hand, such appropriately constructed characters may become a reflection of the newly understood idea of inclusive design, which will focus not only on the accessibility of games for people with disabilities and respond to the special needs of users, but provide diversity at the level of representation.

If games are to be considered a culturally mature medium, they need to show various social issues in a nuanced but sensitive manner, as well as construct complex psychological profiles of characters. Unfortunately, this media is still lagging behind when it comes to representing disabilities.

Therefore, the question about “fragile avatars” contained in the title of our report, paradoxically, should apply to the question about the possibility of sensitive representation of disability. More “mighty” avatars are not required anymore when this “mightiness” is most often an expression of ableism, medicalization, and choosing the soft option concealed in heroes with pseudo-disabilities. Avatars that are “vulnerable,” that is, those in whom disabili-

ty is humanity, a distinctive value, an encounter with something different, but still the same, are required.

The two main postulates addressed to the industry of the game producers/developers by players with disabilities are, above all, greater courage and a willingness to go off the beaten design paths and go beyond the established patterns of creating game characters. The second point emphasizes the active role of characters with disabilities.

According to the focus group participants, and the authors of the report, characters with disabilities should play active roles in the game settings so that they do not reinforce prejudice of their developers against the community of people with disabilities, and thus they are not only spokespersons of this community, but simply attractive heroes treated equally at all levels of the elaborate construction of this complex medium that is video games.