Dove Leads Textured Hair Representation in Gaming
Published 23 November 2023
The gaming industry needs to be more visibly inclusive, as 85% of Black gamers believe that video games poorly represent textured hair (Edelman, 2023). Tackling this, Unilever-owned Dove is partnering with the Open Source Afro Hair Library to create the first complete guide for coding natural hair in video games.
Code My Crown, a free downloadable resource, helps provide game developers with instructions for coding more diverse and true-to-life depictions of textured hair and protective styles to ensure greater representation in the virtual world of gaming. It has identified the top missing or misrepresented textured hairstyles and – with a team of Black 3D artists, animators, programmers and academics across the Black diaspora – devised 15 hair sculpts that allow users to create hundreds of virtual hairstyles. Also included is a 360° photo mapping platform, along with personal insights and detailed references from those in the Black community.
“At Dove, we believe every single person should see their beauty represented in the world around them – this is no different for the virtual world,” said Leandro Barreto, senior vice president of the global Dove master brand. “The importance of accurately and respectfully depicting textured hair in video games cannot be overstated, and we are proud to play a small part in taking action to set a new standard for diversity and representation in video games.”
The gaming industry is undergoing great technological innovations, and with this should coincide advanced representation of all communities that engage in gaming for a sense of community, self-expression and fun.
For more on elevated representation in gaming, see Creative Expression in the Beauty-Verse.
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