Dove has unveiled what it is calling the first-ever guide to creating textured and protective hair styles in video games.
Created in partnership with the Open Source Afro Hair Library, a free database of digital hair textures, the Code My Crown guide aims to allow developers to include a greater variety of textured and protective hairstyles in their games.
85% of black gamers believe that video games poorly represent textured hair, according to the Unilever-owned brand’s research.
Existing afro hair options were criticised as “limited” and “highly stereotypical”.
However, 74% of game developers said they wanted to better represent textured hair in video games.
The Code My Crown guide includes 15 hair sculpts that are said to allow users to create “hundreds” of virtual hairstyles.
Each comes with step-by-step instructions, 360-degree photo mapping and cultural insight into the hairstyle for developers.
"At Dove, we believe every single person should see their beauty represented in the world around them [and] this is no different for the virtual world,” said Leandro Barreto, SVP of Global Dove Masterbrand.
“The importance of accurately and respectfully depicting textured hair in video games cannot be overstated, and we are proud to play a small part in taking action to set a new standard for diversity and representation in video games."
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- Dove pushes for legislation to limit kids exposure to toxic beauty content in new campaign
- Dove reveals the ‘alarming rate’ black girls experience hair discrimination in schools
The launch is part of Dove’s ongoing push for more diverse representation in video games, following its campaign for more realistic avatars earlier this year.
The Code My Crown guide is available to download for free at dove.com/codemycrown.
