With the birth of “virtual worlds,” created a new space for social norms to evolve and change within a subset community. This thesis focuses on toxicity within the virtual world of EA DICE’s Battlefield V title. The goal of this research is to understand toxicity on a micro scale inside the world of Battlefield V from a gaming anthropological perspective. Along with understanding what toxicity looked like within the virtual world ofBattlefield V, the thesis obtained data for how the community and EA DICE employees perceived toxicity. This research has components of interviews with these members of the communities/staff as well as a netnography of the virtual world of Battlefield V gameplay. Findings and analysis were categorized under the themes of toxic language, power/freedom, virtual world creation, and gender toxicity. Battlefield V toxicity is ever evolving and shaped by player techne (player actions). Player chat consumes the majority of toxicity and therefore diving into toxic language was vital. Understanding the player perspective of power and freedom while gaming was just the first step as the thesis also dove into the developer’s perspective and analyzed the interviews with the backbone of Malaby’s (2009) contingency concepts to see how the developers have a large role to play when it comes to toxicity in games, even if they may not realize it. Just as in the “real world” the virtual world of Battlefield V also had a major theme of gender discrimination winessed and discussed via both community members and staff members of EA DICE. Overall, the goal of this research was not to find out if toxicity was “good” or “bad” but to simply shed more light on the complex topic within virtual worlds and open up research for other anthropologists to do further research on the topic.

Lately, the trailer for the game “Battlefield V” received a massive backlash from the players of the Battlefield franchise due to the fact that the game inspired by World War II featured a woman as the main character. This research set out to investigate how female elements are interpreted in a traditional male-dominated digital space, and aims to highlight the elements to consider when introducing a female lead character in a video game. The method employed was the critical discourse analysis method (CDA) which interprets discourse by drawing out the implicit meanings in texts. The analysis sought to discern the elements depicting the woman soldier in the online discourse around the game that originated from the controversy. The interpretation of the results is based on the reception theory, as well as the concept of identification and develop around the theory of gender and media and game theory (ludology). The results revealed that the perception of women as a role, from a presence and aesthetic perspective in a virtual space, is influenced by gender roles and the reception of History. Another conclusion is that when giving a female character the main role, with all the attributes of a male character, it seems to confuse the players, resulting in that they cannot identify themselves with the avatar. In addition, the physical appearance contributes to the identification with a character and confirms the precedent studies about male players identifying with male players. The findings support the autonomy of historical understanding and its connection to visual culture in order to explain the phenomenon. As a consequence, the rejection of the main character has led to the creation of a community built around the online discourse and the imbalance of gender values, favorising masculinity over femininity.

Rubrik: Genusrepresentation i Battlefield V – En kritisk diskursanalys av digitala nyhetsartiklarFörfattare: Maria Olson Examensarbete i Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap, 15 hp, Konst, kultur och kommunikation (K3), Fakulteten kultur och samhälle på Malmö universitet, Vårterminen 2020 Handledare: Per Möller Examinator: Tindra Thor Syftet med denna studie är att analysera debatten som inträffade kring den kvinnliga huvudpersonen i Battlefield V under utgivandet av spelets trailer 2018. Med hjälp av en kritisk diskursanalys fokusera på diskurser och genus samt de underliggande maktförhållanden som uttrycks i nyhetsartiklar men även vad detta innebär för den stora sociala praktiken. Resultatet analyserade med genus och feministisk teori indikerar att det finns en maktkamp inom diskursen som kretsar kring den nuvarande kulturella förändringen inom produktionen av spel. För närvarande skapas fler och fler spel med diversifiering, feminism och politik i åtanke, vilket också har lett till ett mothugg för spelindustrin från deras fans. Genom sociala medier sprider fans till spelet en misogyn världsbild som förstärker den giftiga spelkulturens uteslutande av minoriteter. Sökord: Kritisk diskursanalys, Battlefield V, Genus, Nyhetsartiklar, Makt, Ideologi, Hegemoni / Heading: Gender representation in Battlefield V – A critical discourse analysis of digital news articles Author: Maria Olson Final Exam Project in Media and Communication Studies 15 hp, School of Arts and Communication (K3), Faculty of Culture and Society at Malmö University, Spring of 2020 Supervisor: Per Möller Examiner: Tindra Thor The purpose of this study is to analyse the debate that occurred over the female lead character in Battlefield V during the release of the game's trailer in 2018. Using a critical discourse analysis focus on the discourse revolving around gender perception and the underlining power relations that are expressed in the news articles as well as what this entails for the larges social practice. The result analysed with gender, and feminist theory indicates there is a power struggle over the discourse revolving around the current cultural change within the production of games. Currently, more and more games are created with diversity, feminism and politics in mind which has also led to a backlash for the game industry from their fans. Through social media, fan spread a misogynistic view reinforcing the toxic male gaming cultures exclusion of minorities. Keywords: Critical discourse analysis, Battlefield V, Gender, News articles, Power, Ideology, Hegemony