In the second part of this book, you will learn about the diversity of players from some of the most vocal voices on diversity issues. But it would be wrong to assume these steps represent a merely perfunctory concern with social justice. When we fail to include everyone in the audience for videogames, and in the games industry itself, there is both money and intellectual capital at stake.

In Step Five, Sheri Graner Ray considers the impact of gender on videogames by examining what may have been the two greatest barriers to reaching out to a female audience.

In Step Six, Joseph Saulter laments the “closed door” policy of the games industry when it comes to cultural diversity, and compares it unfavorably to the music industry’s investment in artist development.

In Step Seven, Michelle Hinn explores the topic of accessibility, and asks why multi-million-dollar development projects exclude disabled players who could so easily be accommodated.

In Step Eight, Chris Bateman looks at one model for the many differences in player skills, based upon the Temperament Theory.

Finally, in Step Nine, Noah Falstein brings everything together by considering the many ways in which a game can be structured to allow myriad different players to get what they want from their play.