[단독] The ‘gender sensitivity’ question was omitted from the survey of game users.

It was confirmed that the government omitted questions about users’ gender sensitivity from the survey conducted annually on game users. In a situation where game companies are taking advantage of the ‘anti-feminism’ sentiment of the ‘boyfriend site’, it is pointed out that the government is not even properly understanding the reality of gender discrimination in the game industry. As a result of coverage by the Hankyoreh on the 6th, it was confirmed that the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), an affiliated organization of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, added the item ‘Gender sensitivity awareness in games’ to the ‘Survey of Game Users’ in 2020, but immediately deleted it the following year. . Since 2011, Konjinwon has been conducting an annual ‘Game User Survey’ with the aim of creating a healthy gaming environment. At the time, the background to the addition of the ‘gender sensitivity item’ to the survey was because there was a recommendation that ‘it was necessary to increase awareness of gender equality among game users.’ In 2018, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family conducted a research service on ‘Game Culture Industry-Specific Gender Impact Assessment’, and the researchers at the time said, “The proposition that game content that meets consumer needs must be provided rather than implementing gender equality exerts absolute power.” “It is the reality of the industry,” he said, pointing out problems in the gaming industry. The researchers then suggested, “Improving the awareness and attitude of gamers (game users) is a more fundamental solution than changing the industry.” The items added through this recommendation were only a one-time survey. There are 7 gender sensitivity questions added by the Korea Contribution Center to the 2020 survey. The contents of the questions included ‘The appearance and body of female characters in games must be attractive’ and ‘Generally, the stronger the female character, the more exposed her clothing becomes.’ Respondents answered these items on a 5-point scale (1, not at all true, 5, very true). As a result, the items with the highest average score of 3.1 points were ‘Generally, the stronger the female character in the game, the more exposed her outfit is’ and ‘The gender of the villain character in the game is generally male.’ This July, users of the mobile game ‘Rimbus Company’ criticized the developer (Project Moon) for the reason that the female characters in the game were wearing full-body swimsuits with little body exposure, which was predicted in a fact-finding survey several years ago. am.

In addition, it was confirmed that gender equality education was inadequate in the ‘Game Culture Class’ project, where Konjinwon educates youth across the country about game culture. Looking at the lesson plan, there was no unit out of all 8 sessions that specifically dealt with the issue of gender discrimination in the gaming industry. In the reference material for the 4th session, the article ‘Female Gamers, Skills Misunderstood as Hacking’ was mentioned, and the education was all about showing that female gamers can also play games well. In response to this, the KOCCA said, “The gender sensitivity question in the fact-finding survey is a non-permanent question, and reflects social issues at the time, such as the N(n) room (Telegram sexual exploitation) incident in 2020 and sexual harassment in online spaces, to determine the gender sensitivity of game users.” “The question was included in the survey to investigate sensitivity,” he explained. She then explained, “We are advancing the story of gender equality through examples of bias in games (including discrimination or prejudice against female gamers).” Kim Min-seong, president of the Korea Game Consumers Association, said, “While the overseas gaming industry has a negative perception of sexist content, the domestic gaming industry is experiencing misogyny and discrimination in the gaming industry, with companies following some extremist game users who display sexist perceptions. “The problem is not being resolved,” he said. “The only solution is to continuously check the gender sensitivity of game consumers and increase gender sensitivity through substantive education.” Reporter Oh Se-jin 5sjin@hani.co.kr