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Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s Lack of Representation

Kingdom Come: Deliverance received some flak for its lack of positive representation of ethnic diversity and women. In the game, women are treated poorly, and there is little to no ethnic diversity. Is this okay?

Eurogamer reviewed Kingdom Come: Deliverance with vigorous attention. The review demanded appreciation. However, toward the last few paragraphs, Robert Purchese discussed how the game failed to represent women and people of color properly. Purchese attempted to explain how women were treated poorly in the game. Kingdom Come: Deliverance features role-playing attributes which entice a player to have casual sex with many women.

Additionally, he explained how racism took part in developing the game. Likewise, he discussed the importance of inclusivity for a developer who is attempting to refrain from racism. His reasoning stemmed from the on-team historian hired by Warhorse Studio in order for the game to be as accurate as possible.

The review quoted this conversation as such:

“We know of African kings in Constantinople on pilgrimage to Spain; we know of black Moors in Spain; we know of extensive travel of Jews from the courts of Cordoba and Damascus; we also know of black people in large cities in Germany,” the historian, Sean Miller, tells me. Czech cities Olomouc and Prague were on the famous Silk Road which facilitated the trade of goods all over the world. If you plot a line between them, it runs directly through the area recreated in Kingdom Come. “You just can’t know nobody got sick and stayed a longer time,” he says. “What if a group of black Africans came through and stayed at an inn and someone got pregnant? Even one night is enough for a pregnancy.”

Although, in theory, this makes sense-I don’t think much is lost from the experience in the game’s lack of inclusion. Sean Miller discusses the history of foreign traders settling in Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s location. Yet, the story’s focus is not on these traders. The game is not about these potential settlers. Therefore, to add such ethnic diversity in a narrative unrelated to said characters would come off as desperate.

Great Representation

I mean, shouldn’t all games be different anyway? The diversity of gaming as a medium gives each of us something to love. It gives each of us something to be extremely passionate about. So, when we force our developers to create a curated experience, we miss out on their potential.

That being said, representation is important. We shouldn’t underestimate its power. With Kingdom Come: Deliverance, the door is open for historical simulations. This means we could potentially see a developer explore regions such as the Middle East, South America, Asia and Africa. For, each of these locations includes a vast and extensive history which a game could use as its backdrop. With such a backdrop for a historical simulation, we could witness an extensive representation of not only ethnicity but also culture.

Early Black Panther Representation

We have seen women represented well in many sci-fi and fantasy mediums historically adopted for men. Some recent examples include Rey from Star Wars, Ellie from the Last of Us, the overall resilient and ambitious female leads from Game of Thrones. Yet, this type of representation is not new. The sci-fi genre also included the likes of Ripley from Alien, Sarah Connor from The Terminator, and even strong Star Trek female leads dating as far back as the 60s. The list goes on. I believe each of these allowed for a positive storytelling experience for both men and women alike. As each of these was done well and none of them felt like they were shoe-horned in (some might argue otherwise).

Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Yet, let’s look at the difference between these and Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s recent controversy. Kingdom Come: Deliverance is extremely historically accurate, none of the things listed above are. People of color didn’t populate Bohemia. Early history treated women poorly. The developers were adamant about creating an experience funneling historical accuracy. Unlike the Witcher 3 and Skyrim, this game doesn’t use the word “fantasy” as a selling point. It uses the word “history” instead. As a matter of fact, this was the game’s most significant selling point. Thus, it must reflect its historical setting accurately. The game takes few liberties and mostly only includes world-building 99% accurate to it’s actual, real-life setting.

There is a place for representation, and I don’t think this game is one of them where it’s necessary. Were it not a simulation, one could implement such representation and I wouldn’t have a problem with it.

That being said, I’m disappointed that those who are upset about this don’t understand the importance of this game from a genre standpoint. Gaming as a medium has the potential to blossom in many ways, and this game has the opportunity to pave the way for many more mainstream historical simulations.

NPC in Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Cost of Historical Accuracy

Consequentially, the obligation to represent all people negates the value of this particular medium. Kingdom Come: Deliverance is pushing this genre, and one could argue realistic representation, forward. The game can almost be used as an education tool due to its attention to detail. We haven’t seen much similar to this (with the exception of Assassins Creed: Origins forthcoming Education mode). Again, not everything should be the same.

Where I Stand

All in all, I think restricting a developer to a set of standards is dangerous. I believe the community should allow developers to create experiences which differ. We should not force them to adhere to our particular set of beliefs because that will negatively affect the quality of the product. There is a cost to art. Art should challenge you. Why must we curtail a conviction we feel from history by forcing positive representation? Instead, we should force ourselves to look at how far we’ve come as a society.

That being said, I don’t think this controversy will have any effect on sales because I don’t think anyone who is upset about this would purchase the game anyway. As most who are buying this game are obtaining it under the assumption that it’s an accurate glimpse into a piece of time. Therefore, the game’s demographic would more than likely be concerned with historical accuracy.

To read our review of this beautiful experience, click here.

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