Interaktionen mellan användare och spelkaraktär : Användarens val, identifiering, reproducering och stereotypa normer i Tekken 7

Sammanfattning: In this essay, we have unpacked four different levels (the role of women as: a) a part of game history, b) design process, c) characters of the game and d) users) to get a better understanding of the users choice of characters in the popular fighting game Tekken 7.   We have examined the role of women as part of the game’s history and design-process to gain a deeper understanding into the background of the game’s designing process. We have interviewed users with qualitative methods and used analysis strategies such as semiotic analysis and thematic analysis.   The results of our analysis show that users choose their characters based on visual attributes and that they imagine the characters as being an extension of themselves. Users apprehend the characters as stereotypical and thereby reproduce gender-related norms. The process of picking a character to play with is difficult for some of the users - There is a difference between female and male users due to stereotypical visual attributes of the characters which means that it is more problematic for female users to identify themselves with many of the characters. This is affecting the female users experience in a negative way.