The leading Twitch streamer Asmongold now explains which characteristics a female protagonist in a video game must have for men to engage with the game. If a female protagonist does not have these characteristics, he predicts a commercial failure. As an example, Asmongold mentioned the new game “South of Midnight.” Asmongold’s opinion has been sharply criticized.
This is what Asmongold says: A clip of Asmongold is being discussed on the internet. In the clip, Asmongold states that if you’re developing a game aimed at a traditionally male audience and think you can just use a female protagonist, then you are making a mistake:
If you introduce a character into a video game, and it is an action-fighting game and you introduce a woman, then she better have large breasts. If she doesn’t, then you’re making a mistake.
South of Midnight is a new game that is receiving decent reviews (77% on Metacritic), but has only had 1,438 peak players on Steam:
What more does he elaborate on? After being extensively criticized on Twitter for this opinion, Asmongold clarifies his thoughts:
If you have a female protagonist and want men to play your game, then she should have damn huge breasts or a big butt, ideally both. If you don’t have that, then you’re not making a game for the audience.
Asmongold believes that there is no need to discuss this extensively. The numbers speak for him. South of Midnight has only a few players, hence the game will be a financial failure, the studio will close, and everyone will lose their jobs.
How is this being discussed? The statement is criticized on Twitter “by strangers,” while Asmongold’s own community supports the statements.
On Twitter, it is said: “I don’t understand why Asmongold and his friends advocate that games should become an extension of p*rn. I played South of Midnight and never wished that Hazel had larger breasts or that she should be dressed more revealingly. No viewer who watched my stream wanted that.”
“I don’t understand why you have to be constantly aroused to play a game. If I want to be aroused, I open a relevant site.”
“God, he needs to grow up.”
However, most comments under the video revolve around how unsuccessful South of Midnight is.
Asmongold says: People don’t hate him, they hate the truth
This is what Asmongold says about the criticism: Asmongold states that people do not hate him, but that he is stating the truth, which people do not like. He says it like it is.
He streamed South of Midnight and explicitly praised it. Asmongold has thus done something to make the game popular. Female streamers who now portray him as a sexist have not shown and supported the game.
He therefore sees himself as justified.
Limited attention leads to numerous gaming flops
This is what it boils down to: When games flop, character design may be one reason contributing to the failure. Yes. But the idea that poor character design is the sole or a significant reason for a failure fits remarkably well into the current worldview in the USA, which considers anything that is somehow diverse
to be the devil’s work.
South of Midnight is an action-adventure with an unusual setting by a small company, whose last game We Happy Few
also received little attention. It is sold on Steam for €40, €50 in the premium edition.
Where should the hype for the game come from? Asmongold actually played it for 3 hours on Twitch and had an average of 36,000 viewers. But that’s about it. No major streamer has shown the game on Twitch. The studio lacks the marketing budget to promote South of Midnight widely.
In the current state of the gaming market, many games flop because there is an oversupply of new games, but only a few really break through and attract all the attention, like the current Schedule 1. We don’t know if South of Midnight would have significantly more players if the heroine had larger breasts or was a standard action hero. We probably wouldn’t have heard anything about such a game.
The discussion about whether female video game protagonists need to conform to common standards of attractiveness is repeatedly debated and is part of the current culture war in gaming in which streamers like HasanAbi and Asmongold stand at opposing poles: Trump’s inauguration politicizes Twitch: 2 streamers benefit particularly from it
