CD Projekt Red trailer: Yet another symptom of a sexist games industry

Digitally Downloaded writes: "It's a pity, because CD Projekt Red games are incredible. The Witcher 2 is my favourite western-style RPG since the original Baldur's Gate, as cringeworthy as its portrayal of women is. I have no doubt whatsoever that this game will also be incredible.

So why the heck do they feel like they need to prove the critics of the games industry right?"

[ElementX]

Well you don't want some peopleofwalmart.com women as models for the game. I suppose a lot of the male characters are butch, muscled, and have sculpted features. It's not just the gaming industry, either. Look at models for clothing, cologne, anything really.

[Bathyj]

Well said. Every industry uses sex to sell.

And if I'm a guy, and I love girls, and I'm the key demographic why shouldnt the devs cater to me?

And why should I be made to feel bad about that?

[blue_flowers]

this cracks me up because, i have some friends who are male models and even they dont look as good as nathen drake or as buff as marcus phoenix. the male protagonists in the video games look as sexualized as their female counter parts. im tired of people trying to be mad about big boobed gorgeous girls in games when the men are just as superficial. how many male gamers actually look like the characters we play as in games, im sure not many.

[zeal0us]

Make a trailer of a half naked muscular man with rock hard abs killing or doing etc. No one complains but half naked women YA GONE TOO FAR!!!!

[SilentNegotiator]

"Whatcha got there? A game where a muscular guy runs around in a loincloth? Cool"

"Whatcha got there? A game with a woman that is half-dressed?!!?! OMG DATS SEXIST!!!"

Most games feature attractive males and females. What we have here is an exaggerated issue, I tell you what.

[Red_Orange_Juice]

not sexist, that's how humans work, it's call biology

[hay]

Sooo... Extremely instable, dangerous, blood dripping blade equipped female cyber psychopat is kneeing among massacrated and mutilated people and that's sexist for some because as a predator she's dressed provocative?
While more sexist stuff is being projected into minds of minors by the mainstream media?

Damn world went wrong. And stupid.

[ravinash]

It's basically super stimulus.
Enhancing the items beyond their normal form to heighten their attractiveness.

http://enhancingmylife.blog...

[inveni0]

Boo hoo, someone made women look beautiful... How lame that the characters aren't chubby, gassy, and not willing to shave their legs in the winter...

I'm not for objectifying women, but let's face it...we're animals. If someone wants to provide me a beautiful woman to look at, there's nothing wrong with that. I don't get all bent out of shape over Marcus, Drake, Depp or Pitt... If women have a problem with beautiful women, maybe they should try being beautiful themselves. As it is now, it seems like women who complain about this stuff are just jealous. OF A CARTOON. It's pathetic. Therapy worthy, even.

[slayorofgods]

A different perspective...

I actually think cdprojekt is ahead of its time as far as incorporating sex in games.. In the industry today it's still considered taboo to go very far with it even though Hollywood goes much further.

Cdprojekt games such as Witcher 2 also has a more grown up / mature feel to it.. I give them props for everything they do...

[MmaFan-Qc]

peoples who whine about sexism in media/games are usually simply a bunch of jealous fat cows and ugly girls.

FACT!

[ZombieNinjaPanda]

Sexism: Prejudice or discrimination based upon sex.

Another term that has become a buzzword.

[Parasyte]

It's the sad reality of the double standard that is present in our society.

[snipes101]

I'd say that this article is a pretty good summation of what element said:

http://geekrevolt.com/2012/...

[Gumtrol]

Just look at this sexist game photo too!!!
http://images3.wikia.nocook...

[Bimkoblerutso]

I don't really like being associated with the folks that accuse every pretty lady portrayed in the media of conforming to a sexist agenda (and god knows given our lack of context, this is not the time to already be throwing the "sexist" card around for this game), but it WOULD be nice to get some female characters that weren't super-sexualized and/or over-empowered. You rarely get that in games, even for male characters.

It has always been my stance that there is nothing wrong with sexuality existing in games, but at some point it gets goddamn boring seeing the same characters portrayed with different sexy skins.

Again though, just speaking generally. I am VERY excited for 2077.

[DeadlyFire]

WTF is this crap. Sexist? ...............

Submit another article like this MattS and I will block you and hopefully anything you submit.

Don't disrespect Cyberpunk 2077 without having the full game in your hand and actually witnessing the way it is meant to be portrayed. Right now everything your writing is an assumption. We all know what that means.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Videogames are meant to be played. They are games. They are designed for us to escape and enjoy a fantasy world. It's entertainment. If we're allowed to conquer galaxies and annihilate nazis and fly through the air in a jet and besiege castles (oh wait, we're not, because that makes us violent...), then I don't see why it's such a big deal that we would be allowed to look at an attractively-designed fictional character.

Why would I want to play "Irritating, Lumpy, Lady in the Grocery-Store Simulator 2013"?

[Cosmo811]

You fundamentally misunderstand the issue. Those male character are not sexualised. You do not enjoy playing as them because they are sexy, and women do not either. When a man in a video game is butch and muscled with a strong jawline, husky voice, etc. it's about POWER, NOT sex. If they were walking around in skin-tight speedos bulging at the front THEN they would be sexualised. But they are not. They are "powerised", so to speak.

[AznGaara]

It's sad that this article has more hits than the actual trailer itself. -_-

[cgoodno]

Not really all that good of a trailer to use to rail against a sexist industry. After all, in the end, she ends up bald and wearing combat gear that hides her features...

Nothing in this trailer suggests that the person will play or look like that the whole game. Seeing one scantily clad woman throughout does not suggest the direction of the game similar to how the nuns in Hitman: Absolution are not in the whole game either.

[Mutant-Spud]

Riiight, and the Witcher games aren't "sexist" if you apply the same standards? When you hear words like "Sexism" or "Racism" they'll immediately be followed up with hypocrisy or a double standard.
Geralt having sex with hookers and collecting saucy cards with their picture on it isn't sexist but the new CD Projekt trailer is...I see.
The stupidity here is that when the first Witcher game was released these dumb liberal "writers" were screeching about "misogyny" and sexism yet here this noob is praising them...you just have to shake your head.
Fake scandal is fake, like RE5 was "racist" but "no Russian" wasn't a problem, White protagonists slaying waves of Africans "The Horror!", White protagonists slaying waves of Whites..meh...

[Hydralysk]

You do realise what racism is right? As in discrimination based on race, not nationality.

You could argue that the violence was worse in CoD2, but there is a big difference between white psychopaths shooting up white civilians, and a white heroic protagonist with arms the size of melons killing hordes of African tribals throwing spears at you from their swamp huts...

[DaThreats]

IT's just a game!!

[Godmars290]

Right now its just an announcement.

Also got from the trailer that the woman being shot at was the same as the one in the copper suiting up at the very end.

[greatcrusader44]

It almost certainly is. Remember how the woman got shot in the cheek and it left a scrape? Woman suiting up at the end has the exact same bullet scrape on her cheek.

[cgoodno]

And you know how sexy bald women are, Godmars. Just look at them flaunt about her bald head for those few seconds. Heck, why don't they just strip her naked if that's how she's going to look the whole game! /s

[Godmars290]

@cgoodno
Wait, what? What?

Two women in what could be in different positions of the same situation who both have the exact same scar on their cheek.

What is it with the baldness?

[joab777]

Exactly. Its getting absurd! espn just appologized for innocent compliments from brent musberger. Her boyfriend/QB wasnt pissed because of comments but because she ia getting more attention than alabama. She was miss alabama...r u kidding me. And now, as soon as a great trailer is released by a great company for what is sure to be a great game, we get trolling articles like this.

[Cosmo811]

Video games are just as valid a form of art as movies or paintings. It's time they started being held to the same standards.

[prototypeknuckles]

oh but its okay if movies do it, no problem at all, this guy needs to F off

[MattS]

didn't read it, did you? Article quite explicitly states that it's not OK when movies do it.

[prototypeknuckles]

ill admit, that this is the first time i havnt read the article and only looked at the title, mostly because im gettting tired of these sexism in gaming articles, its just getting redundant, lets be honest who walks around looking as buff as kratos, marcus fenix, or as perfect as nathan drake, so i apologize.

[joab777]

So, u only wanna see certain types of movies and games. Not realistic ones or fantasy ones, but PC (politically correct) ones that reflect an altruistic version that meets somebodys standards. We dont actually know these standards cuz they change everyday, the result of a reletavistic society. Remember that while trying to implement your certain type of morality u box everyone else in. This is just absurdity that results from boredom. Instead of allowing freedom and money (or demand) to decide, u want to decide for us. Many women watch movies and many more play games. If it is meant to change, it will. I am tired of being lectured to by quasi-moralists.

[Pandamobile]

Stereotypes and sexism often goes both ways in any form of media.

It's automatically not okay for a hail of bullets to be fired upon a female robot, but it'd be a-okay for a hail of bullets fired upon a dude.

[Hicken]

Love how the comments are already closed. Got something to hide? Or just not able to deal with the consequences of your ill-thought-out actions?

Put simply: you're reaching. I guess you can take comfort in the fact that you're not the only one, but... really, you should stop. As a female commenter on the article said, you're doing no one any good.

It's great that you want to end sexism in gaming, but you have to KNOW WHAT SEXISM IS FIRST. You, obviously, do not. Rather, you are superimposing a projection of sexism onto a situation where none is present.

Ironic that you talk about the video having a lack of context, and then supply your own in the way of screaming "SEXISM!!!!"

Pathetic.

[Phil32]

Great [not] reading [the article at all] skills there, chief.

[jrbeerman11]

to be honest, i dont fault him for not giving a hit to a site looking for cheap hits.

[TiberusX87]

I would also like to point out that you see the woman suiting up at the end of the trailer. I don't think this says anything for sexism against women.

[BanBrother]

I find the new Dante sexist. No guy I know is that handsome (whether you like the game or not, you can see he is one sexy bitch lol).

Too bad I was born a white, middle class male. I never fit into any minority, thus have no 'right' to complain. Even so, I wouldn't exactly call females a minority.

[Megaton]

Some people just sit around at their computer all day waiting for something to get angry about. Enter MattS, hypersensitive blogger and N4G contributor.

[jrbeerman11]

its the problem with media these days is any ignorant person can write an article to complain about anything.

Just look at what happened with miss alabama and the rose bowl. 99% of people disagree with all the complaints about an announcer calling a pageant winner beautiful. but you only hear the ignorant 1% in the news.

[Letros]

QQ

[Monkeycan8]

What about the fact that every guy in gaming is a buff macho buzz headed marine with a 6 pack and the face of a male model and I don't give a shit.

[Megaton]

Yeah, glaring double standard, but they don't care. They don't really have any sort of crusade against the alleged sexism (and probably racism, too) they see all around them in their everyday life. They just want a battle to fight, legitimate or not. Unfortunately, they also know how to use the internet, so everyone else has to deal with it.

[rainslacker]

Sexism isn't confined to one gender. Technically that could be construed as sexist. However, some groups are more sensitive to that sort of thing, and as a society we've been conditioned to be more sensitive to the objectification of the female form. So much so that a man took it upon himself to defend one side of the issue, without looking at the reality of society or human nature.

[Cosmo811]

Because that's not sexualisation. They aren't strong, commanding, powerful men because they know their audiences will find it sexually attracive, they're like that because they're POWERFUL. It's a POWER trip, not a SEXUAL one. Way to miss the point like the rest of the idiots on this site.

[bluetoto]

Are you implying that most people don't find a powerful man sexy?
Because most do, regardless of gender.
Boys want to be powerful men because that's what females find sexy, power.

Way to insult others to instead of admitting what a piece of crap this article is.

[Fatty]

I'm entertained by the fact that guys that write these articles act like an attractive woman in any depiction within a game is automatically sexist, regardless of the fact that there are lots of attractive women in the world, and among those who play video games.

[rainslacker]

Meh, he's probably just trying to start some sort of controversy where it doesn't exist. Doing so means lots of exposure for him. Kotaku does it on a daily basis.

There are real issues when it comes to sexism in society, and the objectification of women is one of them, but far from the most important. Women, and men, have been objectified for centuries, and have had varying degrees of respect and rights within those different societies.

In a way, a man trying to bring about this discussion is a form of sexism in itself. It's shows an underlying need to be some sort of protector of the weak. In addition it is based off a moral stance which seeks to box in society cutting off expression as a form of voice.

[floetry101]

This guy has obviously never seen Blade Runner or Ghost in the Shell and makes some wild accusations on a trailer that he also says has "no context".

Quite simply, a laughable "article".

[AKS]

Ghost in the Shell was the first thing to come to my mind.

Also, I found it very amusing that the author of that stupid article found a "half-naked women positioned in a submissive position" to be more alarming than the half dozen or more bloody corpses of the people she had just murdered.

If anything stood out, it was the fact that she was impervious to bullets, had huge fold-out blades jutting from her arms, and was soaked in blood and surrounded by several of her victims' corpses. But what stood out in this guys mind was that she was female and in a submissive position. WTF?

[Somebody]

Just look at any media with futuristic settings and you'll bound to see sexualized women in them. Nothing to get angry about.

It would be strange playing a game where you can instal chainguns in your body but everyone (in the game world) are too shy to show any bare skin.

Of course the trailer did remind me of the aftermath of the Sandy Hook massacre. Allowing powerful implants that could make people go crazyis almost like giving unstable people easy access to guns debate.

[PockyKing]

Hey, if the women in video games are good looking so what? I don't exactly want to play a game with an ugly looking character unless its part of the storyline or something. It's kind of funny how we get these sexist articles when we get games that use their characters as a selling point, but as far as I know, nobody really complained about (just an example) Fat Princess? I know it's a cartoon, but hey, it's a woman stuffing her face with pie to get fat.

It's marketing, and most people who play video games are in their early 30's and under, so of course they're going to put a good looking woman in the game.

[rainslacker]

Actually fat princess did receive some of that.

http://kotaku.com/5028019/s...

http://www.gamepolitics.com...

People will always find something to complain about, and use anything they can to try and spread an agenda.

[Cosmo811]

You didn't read the article. You assume he has a problem that she's attractive. You are incorrect. He has a problem with her being almost naked, in a submissive position, while men shoot at her; when SURPRISE she's a robot and even though she's a woman she's not totally powerless!

Good effort though.

[PockyKing]

Actually I did read and you read my comment without looking at the bigger picture, which is why you posted that ignorant comment. I did not "assume" that he has a problem with her being attarctive, it's the way shes presented in the video.

Good effort on your assumption that I didn't read though.

[Cosmo811]

Everything you said was about her attractiveness. If you want to talk about something else related to this, go ahead, but I can't read your mind.

[MattyG]

I just posted this directly in the article; "The trailer isn't being sexist or objectifying women. If you watch that rewind theater ( http://www.ign.com/articles... ), it explains why she is half naked, and in a "submissive position". She has augmented her body (probably to be more beautiful than she originally was, that isn't sexist, it's an observation of society.) The more these people augment their bodies, the more insane they become, hence her breakdown and subsequent murder of innocents. She is broken down and unfeeling, so she dropped to her knees and is no longer resisting the police. Sure, this may have some sexual connotations, but it doesn't make the trailer as a whole sexist. There is a reason for the way she is dressed, her position and the way the police are handling her. I feel like anytime a woman is shown in a game or trailer, it is automatically deemed sexist. Let's look past the obvious and find out the reason behind it. Yes some games objectify women, I get that. But there is a purpose for it in this trailer. That is just my two cents."

[izumo_lee]

I thought the trailer was really cool. Have this person never seen of heard of Bladerunner?, or the original pen & paper game that Cyberpunk 2077 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wik... is based on?, or have they ever seen the anime Bubblegum Crisis or AD Police?

Just cause the trailer showed a very beautiful women in revealing attire it is considered sexist now? Did they even see the whole trailer where this women laid waist to the people around her after being psychologically affected?

Honestly watch the entire trailer, do some ACTUAL RESEARCH ,that's what most journalist do right? So you can spare us the effort to waste our time with this garbage.

[MattyG]

I don't think most people actually know the definition of sexist anymore; "discriminatory on the basis of sex (usually said of men's attitude toward women)". The word "sexism" is being thrown around way too much lately, and not just in gaming.

[izumo_lee]

And you know MattyG that is what is wrong with society right now. There are far to many unknowledgable people that do not do their research about the subject matter.

Take this trailer. If they did their research about the Cyberpunk series which has spanned pen & paper games, novels etc. they would know that this lady has underwent body altering procedures. However the more procedures a person goes through the less & less the person has grasping at what is real & what is not. The trailer shows that this lady has encountered a psychotic break & killed many in the process. The police are there to subdue her while the cool looking gentleman behind her is a special agent dispatched specifically to deal with 'rouge' patients. I believe just when the dude is about to pull the trigger the lady wakes up from her psychotic break.

The trailer is very well presented in showing this event happening & to have this person question whether it is sexist is comical & clearly has not seen or read much about any of this & the source material is based on.

[rawshack]

it could both ad police and bubblegum crisis .ive seen both anime and there are a lot of things that remind me of them .like The cyborg girl getting shot by police. is just like the first ep of ad police files .which in turn a reference to blade runner as they mention pleasure droids in the movie

[Inception]

Don't really care about sexism. The cyborg girl is hot and badass, but in the same time looks fragile too. Also the sci-fi / cyberpunk setting remains me a lot of Ghost in the Shell, one of my most favorite anime & manga. So i hope i already have a decent PC when this game got out.

[SeraphimBlade]

Quote from the bottom of the article: "No doubt if this story gets up on certain websites the comments are going to be various degrees of abusive, but that's good too as it will pretty much prove my point: this continues to be an industry complicit with sexism, despite those occasional public outcries"

Me saying you're grabbing for attention isn't being complicit with sexism. I'm just refusing to be complicit with poor criticism. This isn't a trailer we're supposed to take at face value. This trailer is eye candy because THAT'S WHAT A TEASER IS. Are there probably a couple people going, "ooh, boobies, yay!"? Well, yeah. Teenagers exist. But clearly the point is to make the audience ask "why is this women in the middle of a pile of bodies? Why is she bulletproof? Why does she have freaking arm blades?" It's out of context, so now we all want to know what's going on, so now we'll be following their game! Mission accomplished!

A sexist ad would have just been "hey, we got boobs." This one is "Hey, we got intrigue and interesting world-building... and maybe some boobs on the side."

And honestly? If I was sexy and bullet-proof, I'd be flaunting what I got.

[cogniveritas]

I'm not going to say the criticism was warranted but the teaser was not brilliant and was likely intended to spark controversy for the sake of generating internet buzz which plenty of people are willing to give into on either the criticism side or in defending it. Even I'm writing this comment. But it did not make me wonder what's going on and wanting to follow the game. It just left me without any particular impression about it and I might hear more about it when some gameplay is shown, but until then and after this article it's irrelevant to me.

[aliengmr]

"was likely intended to spark controversy for the sake of generating internet buzz"

There's an actual hidden message from the team at CDPR explaining the reasoning behind the teaser. Why there is no gameplay, a window for release, etc.

But I wonder why you assume they did this to "spark" controversy. The Tomb Raider BS was a stretch but at least there was something controversial to latch on to.

The teaser was there to give those who familiar with the "lore" an idea of what CDPR wants to do.

[ninjahunter]

:O there was a sex reference in Half life 2! OMG Womanizing bastards! /s

People need to calm down, guys like things like boobs and nice legs. its a fact. Girls like.... IDK muscled backs and masculinity or something. No one wants what you would probably consider non sexist, i sure as hell dont want to watch 300 pound Americans having heart attacks for 20 hours, but dont worry, its not sexist.

[LAWSON72]

Sexist bastards!!! Why put attractive things in games? I would much prefer the character to be big fat slobs.

[gamernova]

Did they put kitchens in there?

[Loki86]

You do realize that this is based on a heavily-modified society. Including cosmetic enhancements, meaning that society's idea of perfection is going to be on full display here.

[mricecreamman]

looks epic already! i think i just wet my pants!

[greatcrusader44]

Is this person serious? There's even a reason in universe why'd the girl would look perfect, her whole body is completely enhanced with modifications, so she's gonna look beautiful. Let alone marketing reasons, like girls with nice bodies appeal more guys than someone like Honey Boo Boo's mom. Everything is oversexualized in games, rarely do I play a game where a main character isn't beautiful, men and women both.

[jc48573]

hey, sex dolls are bound to happen sooner or later.

[RuperttheBear]

Well this is strange, I don't find any females taking offence and making an article about it. Maybe it's because it isn't sexist, and a certain person is making more of it than what it is.

[Braid]

Submissive position my @ss.

Did you even consider the possibility that maybe she's faking surrender in order to wait for a surprise attack with those, you know, friggin' huge arse blades coming out of her arms? Do we see what happens after she closes her eyes? I bet what comes after is a scene in which the half-robot lady attacks your strong masculine figure standing behind her with those blades and slice him up like a piece of watermelon. I mean, seriously now... How could someone so menacing like her can be regarded as being in a submissive position just due to the fact that she's on her knees? She looks more like a monster to me, for Christ's sake, with all those augmentations which makes her deadly. And deadly is NOT innocent, so acting like the woman in this trailer is an innocent young lady who's captured by force and about to be executed for no reason, is pointless. Did you see the pile of dead bodies left by your no-harm-doing lady?

I'm sorry but I find it hard to consider this trailer sexist, and I don't see why you're making an issue out of this when it's obvious that she's not intentionally put in that position to cater your tetosterones. Her having a fit body in the context of the story is not absurd anyway as she's augmented. And let's be honest here for a second, if you had the chance to enhance your body with surgical enhancements, would you tell your doctor "Hey doc, I want you to make me as fat as i can be, because you know, I don't want my body to be materialized by the evil society." Everybody wants to be adored and there's not a single person on this planet that doesn't want to look sexy, if they tell otherwise they're lying. So, we all want to look like her and be adored like her, and we're getting pissed when we see someone like her or a handsome guy like Nathan? That's pure bollokcs, my dear friends.

Let alone this lady is probably designed to be a soldier and that explains why she has a fit physique.

[reznik_zerosum]

its totally in the spirit of cyber-punk,in all hes manifestations trough mediums,book,concept-art,movie s w/e.cant blame games called cyberpunk for being cyber-punk.

[Moncole]

Only ugly people think videogames are sexist.

[DudeJets]

Screw the article

I NEED THIS NOW
It's a good teaser and it's CDPR and anyone that has seen me post about them know how much I love them as devs.

[jjank11]

Article is stupid and just more PC garbage. Good developer so it should be good game, so people should buy it because of that. Whether there is a fat disgusting lady or a sexy lady, i'll buy it.

[FernandoMartinez]

The gaming industry is huge and it's divided into many genres and characters in certain games are meant to target specific audiences. That does not make the whole game or the whole industry sexist. It's just like saying The Twilight Saga is making the whole movie industry sexist because of its stereotypes...

[ame22]

Blah Blah Blah

[Roccetarius]

Seems like just another article in the garbage bin. CDPR is known for mature content, and they're not overdoing it at all. It's not like Mass Effect and the T rated content they have.

Remember to vote the site down, folks.