SigninG a Publishing Contract

4C. INCLUSIVITY and Sensitivity

Be clear with your publisher up front if diversity and inclusion is important to you, so they can keep this in mind throughout the development process. It can be much harder to fix some of these things if you only bring them up in a final review before the game goes to print.

1. Rulebook writing

Too many boardgames still have rulebooks that refer to players as “he” throughout the rules, which many non-male gamers find off-putting — as if a publisher or designer did not expect them to be playing the game. Asking your publisher not to do this is especially important for countries where the language’s default “neutral” pronoun is “he.” Even in those languages, “he” is avoidable with some care — especially by switching the rules to using “you.”

The rulebook and other materials shall be written in gender-neutral language, and shall not refer to all players as if they are male.

2. Diversity of characters

Research in videogames has increasingly shown that players want games to include characters who are diverse. If appropriate for your game, a contract clause asking your publisher to pay attention to representation might look like this: 

In the depiction of humans and human-like characters, PUBLISHER agrees:

  1. To use characterizations and images that represent variety in age, gender, race and ethnicity, sexuality, body size, and ability; 
  2. To avoid depictions of characters that would reinforce negative stereotypes based on age, gender, race and ethnicity, sexuality, body size, or ability; and
  3. To avoid sexualizing depictions of female characters more than other characters without explicit permission of DESIGNER.
3. Sensitivity review

Games that make reference to human culture — both historically accurate and works of fantasy — can often benefit from a sensitivity review. For example, Isaac Childres has written about how he improved the fantasy world of Gloomhaven after hiring a professional to review it. Consider whether the content of your game would suggest that your publisher should hire a cultural consultant to do a sensitivity review.

PUBLISHER shall contract with a professional cultural consultant to review all game materials. PUBLISHER will share the results of this review with DESIGNER, and work with DESIGNER to address any concerns raised by the consultant.

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