Answer from the article itself: no, they were never well represented. This is a terrible clickbait title for a decent article.
This makes me realize that I can’t think of hardly any videogames with a black character at the forefront.
Sure, there are black playable characters in MOBAs and MMOs, but how many story-driven games have black characters at the forefront?
The most recent one I can think of is Alan Wake 2. And Spider-Man Miles Morales. But there really are so few compared to those with white main characters. Which is sad.
Slime Rancher’s protagonist, Beatrix LeBeau, is definitely not white. It’s not the most story-driven game out there, but I really appreciated how the main character is a PoC woman, with zero fuss about it. She’s just a lady with a ranch on an alien planet, and why shouldn’t she be a PoC woman rather than a white dude?
Just for the record I agree with you, but the opposite of that final question is true, why shouldn’t she be a white dude, or a PoC man? Ranching/farming isn’t a job that requires a specific gender or sex.
I mean, that’s kind of the point. For the vast majority of games, there’s no real reason why the protagonist has to be a straight white dude, yet 99% of the time, that’s what they are. I like it when devs do something different.
GTA: San Andreas.
It’s old by now, but Telltale’s Walking Dead. Loved those games, and loved those characters.
Prototype 2 (2012)
It’s been a while, I can’t really remember the game well but I do remember enjoying the prototype games.
I can’t recall too many other games that haven’t already been mentioned here either
can’t even pick a decent black hairstyle in the character creators. 90% only have a fro, 9% that weird comb over dread style bc it was in black panther, even tho i’ve never seen a real person wear it
Baldurs Gate 3
You’re right, but deathloop is a great one imo
Final Fantasy XIII had Sazh Katzroy. He’s not the main character (that’d be Lightning), but he is an important playable character right from the get-go. He has his own storylines as well.