[evanwalsh]

I think people want to identify with the media they consume and games are different from more passive forms because of player agency. However, if the avatar in the game is supposed to be "you", but it doesn't even begin to look like you, then you don't identify as much.

I, for one, relish a game that doesn't make me play as Johnny Brownhair-Whiteguy, but I have the benefit of being a white male with brown hair. I have the benefit of being catered to by most video games. If I could less often play as someone that looked like me, I think I'd start to feel excluded.