by Magnus Reinel
The days when video games were a niche hobby are long gone. They are part of everyday culture and are actively promoted across social media, streaming platforms, and digital storefronts like Steam. One of the most visible and influential elements of this promotion is the game cover. These images are often the first point of contact between a game and its potential audience and therefore play a crucial role in shaping expectations. As marketing researcher Christopher Near has pointed out in his analysis of video game advertising, promotional images are not neutral, they communicate assumptions about genre, target audience, and character roles before a game is ever played.
While discussions about gender representation in video games tend to focus on gameplay mechanics or narrative design, advertising visuals have received comparatively little attention in public debate. This blog post therefore takes a closer look at how female characters are portrayed on video game covers and what these portrayals reveal about gender roles in gaming culture.
When women become visual accessories
A striking pattern in many video game posters is the way female characters are positioned as visual decoration rather than as active agents. Women are frequently shown in revealing clothing, exaggerated poses, or passive stances that emphasize their bodies over their actions. Media scholar Laura Mulvey described this dynamic decades ago in her essay on visual pleasure in cinema, where she introduced the concept of the male gaze. Mulvey argues that popular visual media often frame women as objects meant to be looked at, while men are presented as active subjects who drive the narrative forward. Although her work originally focused on film, its relevance for contemporary visual media such as video game advertising remains evident.
In game covers, this is shown through camera angles that highlight female bodies, cropped images that focus on specific body parts, and poses that suggest attractiveness rather than strength. Even when female characters are central, they are often presented as visual decoration instead of active figures. This implies that women are meant to add visual appeal rather than play an active role in the game world.
Female bodies as marketing tools
The persistence of such imagery is closely tied to marketing assumptions about who video games are for. Christopher Near’s research on gender roles in video game advertising demonstrates that promotional materials frequently assume a heterosexual male audience. As a result, female characters are sexualized as a strategy to attract attention and stimulate interest. In this logic, women’s bodies become marketing tools rather than representations of characters with their own agency.
This approach not only marginalizes female players but also reinforces narrow ideas about masculinity and femininity. By repeatedly presenting men as heroes and women as visual rewards, advertising contributes to the perception that gaming is a male-dominated space in which women are outsiders or secondary figures.
Women as victims and symbols of vulnerability
Another recurring trope can be found particularly in posters for horror and action games, where women are depicted as injured, unconscious, or threatened. Recent research by María de la Torre-Sierra and Virginia Guichot-Reina highlights how such images associate femininity with vulnerability and passivity. In these posters, female characters often serve as symbols of danger or emotional stakes rather than as participants in the action.
These visual choices reinforce traditional gender roles by associating women with fear and vulnerability. When danger is a key theme, men are usually shown facing threats, while women are shown as victims. This imbalance suggests who is expected to take action and who is not.
Shifts Toward Active Female Protagonists
Despite the persistence of these patterns, recent years have seen noticeable changes. An increasing number of video game posters present women as active protagonists: armed, determined, and directly engaging with the game’s central conflict. De la Torre-Sierra and Guichot-Reina note that this shift reflects broader changes in how gender roles are negotiated within digital games and their surrounding media culture.
These images challenge earlier conventions by presenting women as heroes rather than accessories. However, this shift is inconsistent. While some posters clearly show empowered female characters, others mix strength with lingering sexualization, creating unclear messages about female agency. A similar pattern can be seen on sports game covers, where women are rarely featured at all, reinforcing the idea that athletic skill and competition are primarily male domains.
Why Representation Matters
The question of why these images matter has been extensively discussed in media studies. Cultural scholar Adrienne Shaw argues that representation is important not because it automatically produces social change, but because it shapes what feels normal and imaginable within media cultures. When certain groups are consistently portrayed in limited or stereotypical ways, these portrayals influence how audiences think about who belongs and who does not.
In the case of video game advertising, posters contribute to the broader cultural understanding of gaming. They signal who the game is for, whose stories are worth telling, and who gets to be a hero. Inclusive and diverse representations therefore have the potential to broaden the perceived boundaries of gaming culture.
A Medium in Transition
Taken together, these observations suggest that video game advertising may be entering a period of change, but this change remains limited and insufficient. As recent scholars have shown, older representational conventions continue to dominate alongside newer, more inclusive approaches. Although overtly sexualized and passive depictions of women are increasingly questioned, they have by no means disappeared and remain widespread.
Video game posters may appear to be minor marketing tools, but they play a significant role in shaping first impressions and reinforcing cultural expectations. Accepting these patterns as harmless or transitional risks normalizing inequality. A critical examination of such images is therefore necessary, not only to understand how games are marketed, but also to challenge how gender roles are produced and maintained within contemporary media culture.
References
De la Torre-Sierra, A. M., & Guichot-Reina, V . (2024). Women in video games: An analysis of the biased representation of female characters in current video games. Sexuality & Culture, 29(2), 532–560. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-024-10286-0
Mulvey, L. (1975). Visual pleasure and narrative cinema. In The Sexual Subject. Routledge.
Near, C. E. (2013). Selling gender: Associations of sex and product endorsement in video games. Sex Roles, 68(3–4), 252–269. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-012-0231-6
Shaw, A. (2014). Gaming at the edge: Sexuality and gender at the margins of gamer culture. University of Minnesota Press.
Magnus Reinel is a M.A. student at the Department of Communication, University of Vienna.
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