Baldur’s Gate 3 and Elden Ring among games flagged on ‘Woke Content Detector’ Steam page
A Steam reviewer has set up a ‘Woke Content Detector’ page warning people off ‘woke’ games. (Larian Studios)
A video game curation page dedicated to weeding out so-called ‘woke’ titles has gained traction – but not for any reason its creator might appreciate.
The videogame PC marketplace, Steam, features an option for users to design a curator page where they can review games for their followers. One of the curators, calling themself “Woke Content Detector”, was created in March and vows to “identify whether a game has woke content and, if so, to what degree.”
It has gained traction online among users who find its justification for deeming a game woke laughable and, sometimes, bigoted.
The word woke – originally used in African-American Vernacular English to mean alertness to racial and social prejudice – has been appropriated by right-wing pundits over the past few years to highlight topics and groups with which they disagree.
But, as the Woke Content Detector page demonstrates, this latest use of the word is vaguely defined and will typically point to anything that features a marginalised voice. Of the hundreds of games reviewed, 745 have been deemed woke, 376 are not woke and 299 are what are described as “subtly woke”.
Games the curator decided have “no woke content,” include Sonic Adventure DX, World War II shooters Day of Infamy and Red Orchestra, and several Dragon Ball Z titles. The sandbox classic Garry’s Mod is also wokeless, we are informed.
Titles deemed too woke for gamers to handle include Dead by Daylight, Overwatch 2, God of War Ragnarok, and – no surprise to us – Baldur’s Gate 3.
Steam curator reviews game negatively because it has a ‘Black sushi chef’
2D management simulator Dave the Diver was apparently too woke because its main character is a “fat guy who can somehow deep-dive and swim long distances without trouble”.
There is no weight limit on scuba diving, meaning anyone can enjoy the depths of the sea.
The review also chastises the game for featuring a Black sushi chef.
The account has also expressed its misogyny with a review of Darkest Dungeon, which it proclaims is woke because it has playable women characters and a “WOC [woman of colour] wearing full plate armour”.
It has no issue, however, with Team Fortress 2, which features a Black demolitions expert, or Half-Life: Alyx, whose protagonist is a mixed-race woman who thwarts the plans of an alien empire.
The account looks to justify these inconsistencies in a post on its methodology, attempting to define what woke means in this context.
“Woke content = any images, messages, characters, storytelling, dialogue, music, or game mechanics that include themes associated with the left-side of the political aisle in contemporary western politics,” the curator wrote.
It also lists several themes which it deems woke, including “pro-LGBTQ+ messaging”, “anti-family messaging”, “anti-free-speech messaging,” and “pro-climate-action messaging”.
Several of the games it has recommended meet these criteria, however, including Stray, a 3D platformer which explores themes surrounding climate change and the effects humanity is having on the planet.
It also expresses caution against Fallout: New Vegas, not because of its explicit anti-capitalism and pro-disarmament messaging, but instead for its LGBTQ+ characters.
In addition, gamers are advised to avoid Portal 2, a game which it “contains subtly anti-patriarchy messaging” and whose male characters “are portrayed negatively.” It does, however, recommend Portal, which has no males at all.
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