Starfieldhas pronouns. Hundreds of years in the future, a universe that reflects the progress made within our own allows players to select the pronouns people in their lives choose to address them. This choice is respected, and is an obvious component of making your character in the RPG’s opening moments. Shock -bigots aren’t best pleased.
Shortly after early access began this weekend, a clip went viral featuring a bald British man screaming about how Starfield is desperate to remind us of the ‘current day’ with its use of pronouns and body diversity, often
putting this progressive agenda above its ultimate goal of providing a sprawling universe of different planets and characters to discover. Bethesda is so eager to shove politics down our throat that it forgot to make a good game. But the reality is far less interesting, and merely represents a society that is becoming more welcoming for LGBTQ+ people who don’t abide by cisgender norms. Starfield wants to depict a universe where that progress continues even as our own planet has been left behind.
Related:Being Encumbered In Starfield Nearly Ruins The Entire Game
When playing a blockbuster game like this ahead of release, I find myself laughing about the inclusion of non-binary identity options or trans character creators because I know the same tired crowds are going to kick up a fuss about something very normal to the rest of us. How a game will be labelled as trying to win over the leftist cabal by allowing us to look like a normal person with pronouns of our choice.Alan Wake 2has a woman of colour in one of its lead roles, so I’m expecting the name to be changed to Alan Woke 2 in a bunch of very clever and not at all predictable right-wing YouTube videos.
Starfield doesn’t even push the progressive boat out all that much. From what I can tell, most of its companions abide by the sexuality of the player when it comes to romance, while going with the non-binary gender option will also lock you to a specific protagonist voice that can’t be changed no matter how you might sound or look in reality. It represents a rather generic way in which gender nonconforming people are viewed in our own society. Non-binary folks exist and should be respected, but from the perspective of cisgender people they’re also a demographic that can be pushed into a box like anyone else.
It also neglects to provide any other voice options, forcing your character to fit into its sole idea of what non-binary people sound like. This is where critique should be addressed, but I don’t think the angry gamer boys kicking up a fuss about pronouns have the intellect to make it that far. Instead, their only outlet is anger for the sake of anger because hobbies they love and define themselves by aren’t afraid to change with the times and leave them behind.
You have to wonder if reactions like this are genuine, or are actually a manufactured display of outrage to achieve viral success and attract followers who happily reside within the same narrow echochamber. Ever since GamerGate, we have seen these crowds gather in defiance of where the medium is headed, either screaming aboutHorizon Zero Dawn daring to depict realistic beauty standards in Aloy’s peach fuzzor harassing the smaller indie projects with queer themes and ideas that happen to make the mainstream. It doesn’t stop, and unfortunately I doubt it ever will.
Starfield is a better game for allowing non-binary players to feel represented, even if it sometimes falls short. Bethesda isn’t lessening its own potential with a game that wants to be more welcoming and progressive, especially when the majority of big open world blockbusters in recent years have done the exact same. Even Call of Duty made Ronald Reagan respect your pronouns before committing war crimes, and I bet the gamers who complained about that are still putting daily sessions into Warzone. It’s all performative and not worth paying attention to. Everyone has pronouns, even the terminally online fools who continue to scream from the rooftops about games that let us choose them.
Starfield is yet another game in a long line of modern successes that hopes to make video games a more welcoming hobby for everyone, and in doing so must wheedle out individuals who disagree with inclusive progress and leave them behind.
