Let’s Talk About Rape

Previously Voletic has touched upon the underlying misogyny inherent in the narrative motivations found in modern video games. Voletic wanted to make a return to the subject hoping to expand upon one aspect we only touched upon briefly – the attitudes towards sexual violence and rape within video games and its surrounding cultures. The inclusion of ‘rape’ (or more accurately, the threat of rape) in last year’s remake Tomb Raider, alongside the more recent discussions surrounding Hotline Miami 2 have got me thinking. I wanted to ask questions around the topic; is it necessary to include such subject matter in video games? Should developers be inclined to remove said content if it offends?

In our eyes, there is little debate to be had surrounding whether or not video games should touch upon subject matter of rape and sexual violence. Like with any narrative medium with aspirations to be seen as art, no subject matter should be taboo if handled correctly. However, the use of rape as plot device within video games is made problematic by two issues.