As Nintendo sales continue to slump as supply chains and fading engagement bite, our senior strategist, Siddharth Seth, wrote in City AM on why Nintendo needs to become more inclusive to reverse its fortunes.

Nintendo may be betting on the new Pokemon to change its fortunes this year, but it needs to do more to convert casual fans into repeat players.

Games are intended to be inclusive spaces, where you can be whoever you want to be. Unfortunately, through their design or representation, they can often be the opposite.

Elden Ring, the bestselling game of 2022, is notoriously difficult. There is nothing inherently wrong with creating a difficult game. But creating barriers to entry, without an "easy mode" for more casual gamers can be exclusionary. Additionally, games don't represent the people that play them.

Nearly 80 per cent of lead characters in games are male and 54 per cent of lead characters in games are white, even though games are played by all genders, races and ethnicities. Gaming brands must create spaces which are inclusive to ensure that they don't find their consoles and games put up in the dusty loft.

First published in City AM.