Mini-project: Examination of Genderism and Gender Stereotyping in Honor of Kings —
A Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) Game in China

1. Despite the fact that the company has been paying efforts to reduce genderism (e.g., organizing female-only contests and inspiring the participation of female streamers), female players still encounter gender discrimination and gender stereotyping within Honor of Kings, which has been a prevailing phenomenon in many MOBA games.

 

A:  In the interview with Anning, a female white-collar worker as well as a 4-year player of Honor of Kings, she talks about her observation of the phenomenon of gender discrimination in the game. Anning has experienced or witnessed genderism several times in Honor of Kings, and she considers that this phenomenon has been prevailing in all types of online video games. In her opinion, the primary cause of genderism is not the game’s systems and mechanisms but that many Chinese male players tend to be “rude and poor-educated” in the game battles. In her own experience, she has been the target of gender discrimination simply because she tried to support her female friend, who underwent verbal attacks regarding gender, through the in-built voice chat of the game. Besides, she also witnessed male teammates attacking her female teammates, who were strangers in some random battles. What is more, as Anning said, some male friends of hers did something similar. In fact, most male players she saw, who enacted genderism and gender discrimination, were teammates randomly matched for her. However, among her own male friends who play the game, she also noticed that some of them used to conduct some gender discriminative speeches in the game against other female players, saying things like, “with such low game level, of course, this is a woman.” (Anning [Interview], 2022, Apr 26)

 

B: Tencent has been paying plentiful efforts to “promote female representation in its esports games” (Yang & Hashim, 2021) by organizing competitions directed at female players and promoting female game streamers and esports teams. However, gender bias is still a big issue within Honor of Kings. Traditional stereotypes hold that males are more suitable for video games using untenable rationale, such as female players are biologically weaker and less socially acceptable in the domain. Regarding how widespread the phenomenon is in different video games, 35.87% of the female participants in the research reported that they had experienced gender discrimination through texts or messages after a battle (Peng, 2021, p.98). Moreover, the results of the research show that several male players tend to consider it harder to win a game if there exists a female player within the team, and even some female players hold the same feeling.

 

2. While there exist, female players who are not afraid of revealing their real gender identity, many female players tend to avoid directly exposing their gender to others (e.g., not using the in-built voice chat within a game battle). Yet, these female players would still be judged based on their username, their profile image, and the champion they use (i.e., the playable character in a MOBA game). Meantime, they might trap themselves in the gender stereotypes created by players and the company while they are simply conducting their preferred behaviors (e.g., using the champions with the appearance they like), consciously or not.

 

A: In the interview with Anning (2022), she shares her player portrait within Honor of Kings, including her username, her displayed profile image, and the champions she is proficient in. Anning thinks that her portrait has clearly shown her gender with her username and her profile image presenting “characteristics of girls.” Moreover, the champions that Anning prefers to use are mostly pretty girl characters who are deemed female-player-oriented champions. As Anning recalled, once in a battle, she did not send any message using the text system or say anything in the voice chat. However, a male player simply started to send her discriminative messages attacking her by her gender since she wasn’t doing well in that battle. In this way, the male player must have judged her gender based on her username or her champion in that battle—Yao, a girl with pink hair who can transform into a tiny deer, is often considered the champion used by female players.

 

As Anning said, while many of her female friends tend to use female champions with adorable appearances, these champions were designed to be easier to control. In this case, the exterior characteristics of a champion that a female player adores were bonded with the feature of easy-to-control. Therefore, female players who use the champions whose appearance they like are defined as people who can only use easy-to-control characters. She also stated that some of her female friends simply wanted to chill and hence use these easy-to-use champions. Yet, anyways, stereotypes are perpetuated simply due to female players’ preferences in the champions they use and their ways of playing the game. (Anning [Interview], 2022, Apr 26)

 

B: As Ru (2019) analyzes, the design of some video games has restricted the playing style of female players since champions whose designs are consistent with the taste of female players tend to be designed in the Support role and Mid role (p.31). To further explain, the two roles function more by frequently assisting others and thus contributing to the team. Therefore, stereotypes of female players are sustained that they are only suitable for helping others and being kind to their teammates rather than taking the lead by themselves. Ru states that female players are unconsciously accepting such social rules, and also tend to edit their player portrait to show their gender identity (e.g., username, profile image, champion costume). In this way, they might further be judged by others, and they themselves are also adapting to the social roles assigned to them (p.37).

 

3. One major reason behind female players' being discriminated against has been the stereotype that female players tend to be less skilled in video games. The stereotype has been lasting long in the context of online video games, impacting the willingness of female players to participate in the game battles.

 

A: In the interview with Han (2022), a female university student who has been playing Honor of Kings for 6 years, she shared her experience of being verbally attacked when she wasn’t playing well in a game battle. Han said that since her username and the champions that she uses are less like traditional female players, she only got verbally attacked when not playing well, and this situation has happened to a majority of players regardless of gender. Yet, according to Han, the current context is that female players tend to be deemed less skilled in Honor of Kings. While Han herself also considers that many of the female players are not playing the game seriously but for mere fun and entertainment, and thus they might perform relatively badly within the game.

 

B: As shown by the research (Ratan, Taylor, Hogan, Kennedy, & Williams, 2015), the difference in gaming skills between female and male players is “negligible” for those playing a MOBA game for the same amount of time (p.455). However, the researchers still found out that the stereotype that female players are considered less skilled is perpetuated, which exerts huge pressure on female players, affects how female players perceive their own capabilities, and then directs them to playing Supporting champions or discourage them from playing.