This is a clear example to point to for how the biases of the creators will always be passed onto their works, such as is brought up in relation to AI.
Is it not more profitable for large companies to hire more people for whom their entire job is making sure that character creation in games reflects more honestly the spectrum of human physical features? The positive publicity from accurately representing Black hairstyles seems like it would be worth more than enough monetarily to hire a specific person for this role. They are so focused on the white, male demographic that they cannot see how this could benefit even their own wallets in the long run.
The fact that development teams are willing to do such deep dives into the modeling, physics, and designs of various types of fur for animals and creatures in games, yet are unwilling to do the same for humans, is extremely telling. This goes beyond just not having a very diverse dev team, to negligence, when the sheer effort put into fantasy furs is compared to the bare minimum put into Black hairstyles.
To change this inbuilt bias in video games, we need to change the beauty standards present today. Can any unbiased art be made when society so strongly pushes standards that directly discriminate against Black hair?
Available resources and education are the two most powerful tools to change the biases inbuilt into games, able to overcome even societal pressure and standards.
Asset kits and tools, such as the one provided through “Code My Crown”, are what I believe to be a necessity in the future representation of Black hair in media. Because with the work already pre-done, even companies that are trying to pay the bare minimum for character creation representation will be more likely to add in Black hairstyles.
The wide education of future developers and designers on both the technical skills of implementing Black hair textures and styles, and the significance of that representation, will result in better games that support Black communities, rather than serve as a constant reminder of progress yet to be made.
And is broadening the education and awareness about aspects of Black culture not also one of the effects that comes from changing the content of the popularly consumed media? If a child were to grow up with little to no exposure to Black culture in their daily life, both an increase in the representation of Black culture and improvement in the accuracy of such representation in the digital media they consume can have a lasting impact on a child’s worldview.
The smallest details stick in your brain as a child, growing to influence you more as time goes on. It is the duty of those currently living to make sure that those the little details we create will influence children to be better rather than worse, a goal that is served through the addition of well-researched and accurate representations of Black culture in media, with actual input from Black communities.