Gamer Boys and Girls

One facet of my life that has always served as an escape has been video games. Growing up, I went through the standard types associated with boys: shooters, sports, action.

But, as I got older, I grew to appreciate story driven games more and more. 

Don't get me wrong: I still get enjoyment from blowing up enemies from a well timed airstrike whenever I feel like picking COD back up. However, it's the games involving major exploration or character drama that has me most interested; especially if it involves LGBTQ themes.

I don't have to tell you that our community has been vastly either under or misrepresented in not just video games but media in general. If an LGBTQ character was included at all, they were either portrayed as the overly feminine males or overly masculine females. Any trans or genderfluid character was usually the result of mental illness. On the rare occasion when a character was portrayed as LGBTQ without these overly dramatic qualities, they were usually censored or removed from North American releases over backlash concerns.

But is it the gaming industry and developers overreacting or are they giving the gaming public what they want?

Well, according to a gamer report released by GLAAD, 17 percent of self identified gamers in 2023 identified as LGBTQ; a 7 percent increase from just three years prior.

The report also noted that  approximately two-thirds of cisgender gamers were just as likely or even more interested in buying a game with an LGBTQ main character.

So, if gamers don't mind our community being represented then do the games themselves represent us? Not as much, sadly.

Also included in the report from GLAAD is a stat that (as of November 2023) there were 1506 video games with LGBTQ content. That sounds impressive until you realize that this number of games accounts for less than two percent of the games available for purchase across consoles, PC and Steam.

It also seems that LGBTQ elements are mentioned in passing or "hidden" in certain games. My current game, Ghost of Tsushima (I'm replaying it before I move onto Ghost of Yotei), there are LGBTQ characters in the game but they must speak of such things in private. Granted, this takes place during one of the Mongol invasions of feudal Japan, which means LGBTQ persons wouldn't have been as accepted as today. I will say that it does speak well for our main character Jin in that he respects these people (including ally Lady Masako with her female lover drama) whenever they're encountered.

Yes, representation is getting better in video games (like most media) but it still has a long way to go. We're also in danger of sliding backwards as long as multimedia companies continue to bend the knee to a certain orange faced goon in the White House.

Still, as long as the games can continue to be more inclusive, as well as tell a good story, I'll have my controller ready to go.













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