Dove Is Tackling The Issue Of Black Hair Options In Video Games

Source: Insomniac Games / PlayStation / Dove

Black and Brown video game characters are constantly plagued with awful-looking generic hairstyles. Dove and Open Source Afro Source Hair Library to fix that glaring issue.

Did you know that 85% of Black gamers do not feel video games are coming up painfully regarding the representation of Black characters?

Did you also know that 74% of game developers really want to actively promote better representation?

Dove and Open Afro Source Hair Library are on a mission to fix the Black hair issue in video games with the launch of “Code My Crown,” the first complete and free guide about coding textured hair and protective styles specifically for video games.

Code My Crown aims to eliminate the tired excuse that Black hair is hard to emulate in games by providing coders and developers with an instructional guide allowing them to code more diverse and “true to life” hairstyles in 3D games.

As mentioned above, the guide is free to download at Dove.com/CodemyCrown. This site was also created to help increase diversity in the video game world.

Speaking on the lack of texture hairstyles in games, Isaac Olander, lead Code My Crown developer 3D Artist, said in a press release, “Out of hundreds of possible hairstyles to choose from in the video games I play most often, only a handful are textured hairstyles,”

Olander added, “I am personally grateful to the many talented artists that have selflessly shared their knowledge before me. Their generosity has shaped my artistic journey, and it feels incredibly rewarding to give back to our artistic community with this guide.”

What Is The Open Source Afro Hair Library?

Open Source Afro Hair Library features a bunch of Black creators, developers, and natural hair experts who point out the top textured and protective hairstyles that are always absent in video games.

Code My Crown also features 15 original hair sculpts created by international Black 3D artists, animators, programmers, and academics to help give developers a foundation to create better virtual hairstyles for Black characters.

Each sculpt has 360-degree image mapping, step-by-step instructions, and cultural context to help them create Black hairstyles in the game.

“In the real world, there is an incredible variety of Black hairstyles. But this is rarely reflected in the gaming world,” A.M. Darke, founder and lead Code My Crown contributor, said in the release. “When Black hair is absent from the games we play or are consistently low-quality, it communicates that Black players and our culture are an afterthought, that our stories aren’t worth telling.”

Black Hair In Video Games Has Been A Hot Topic Issue

In March, Kinda Funny’s Blessing Adeoye Jr. released a fantastic video highlighting the need for immediate fixes to Black hairstyles in video games.

The video notes there have been some strides.

For example, see Miles Morales’ crispy ceaser haircut in the above photo from Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales or his latest hairstyle in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, but the issue in gaming is still glaring.

We can still find some recently released games that provide users with subpar cornrows, afros, and other hair options that only Tyler Perry would use in his television shows or films.

However, we applauded Dove, the Open Source Afro Hair Library, the developers, and Blessing for bringing attention to this important issue.

Representation will always matter.

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Photo: Insomniac Games / PlayStation