In the last few years, there has been a massive introduction of LGBT characters into mainstream games. As a gay gamer, I’ve found myself wondering why. What has changed in gaming culture that inclusion is becoming more prevalent?
With an increase in appearances of minorities like the LGBT community in games and more discussion on diversity and sensitivity, why do some developers still get it so wrong?
Is gay gaming about the movement or the money?
The very first appearance of a gay character in gaming is credited to Moonmist, a text-based adventure and multi-plot game where one of the characters, a lesbian, is jealous that her ex is marrying a man. The game was released in 1986 and now, 29 years later, publishers and developers alike have continued to include LGBT characters in their stories and games. However, is just being included enough?
Some games such as Grand Theft Auto IV put the characters into a main role; in this case GTA IV had a DLC 
pack available to players, ‘The Ballad of Gay Tony’. Players take on the role of Luis Lopez, hired muscle turned bodyguard and nightclub manager, who is an associate of one of the city’s more exuberant residents, Gay Tony. While the inclusion of a gay character in such a high-profile game did warrant some praise, players and LGBT community members were disheartened at the stereotype that was produced.
However, is it all just for money and simply chasing the pink pound or is the video game industry finally realising that being Lesbian, Gay, Bi or Transgender is equally as important and natural as heterosexuality?
While this is great to see and a big step in recognising the LGBT community, it is also a bit of an annoyance to some gay gamers. The reasoning for this is because most of the characters in the list above don’t have much interaction throughout the whole game and are merely just a side mission or part of a smaller activity. This then leaves the LGBT characters with no development which in turn rubs off as not being important enough to explore or develop. Some argue they would simply rather not have the character if this is the case.
There are very few games that have well-developed LGBT characters. Is this due to the writers simply not wanting to insult the community with a stereotypical character or because they don’t want to bother?
If we take a look at EA’s Mass Effect franchise, every instalment has had some sort of LGBT character. However, in 
the first game you could not enter a relationship of the same-sex. Then, in the second instalment, females could enter a same-sex relationship but not males. Finally, in the third instalment, both males and females could enter a same-sex relationship but this time it took a series of tasks, dating and helping your partner to actually pursue the relationship further. This gave the characters a lot more personality and personal development.
For instance, if you were a male and decided to try date Lieutenant Steve Cortez he would first be introduced to you by telling you he hasn’t gotten over his deceased husband and feels very lonely. Throughout the entire game you listen to him, give him advice, bring him to various places and pick him up when he is feeling low. Four fifths into the games his character has started to feel happy again and starts to think about meeting new people and if you want you can follow this through and end up having an ‘unforgettable’ night before your final mission. The same sort of choices are available if you play as a female character throughout the game with the same attention to development. There are a few other games to this standard but to me EA are the company that set the highest standard. So this is where you start to wonder: is it money or movement? This is the line that quite frankly needs to be crossed. Was EA just thinking, “Let’s tip toe around this and give more than has been offered to LGBT players before and just be careful about how we integrate the characters?” or was this simply to pull in revenue from the gay community that otherwise may not have been introduced?
Unfortunately, gaming has not implemented transgender characters to the same level. In fact, during my research, the only game I came across that had a properly developed transgender character was Dys4ia; the player controls a character undergoing hormone replacement therapy and transitioning from her natal sex. The game features observations of the politics and personal development of those experiencing gender identity disorder. This, to me, stands out as an honest implementation. The reasoning behind this is because if it was simply for money they wouldn’t have given the character such a vivid story; instead, they would have just left the character as a transgendered character and not have any explanation or story.
The first ever all-gay cast video game, produced by Handsome Woman Productions Ultimate, was called Gay Fighter and hit shelves in 2014. Although it has stereotypes for each LGBT member it is done on purpose to represent and promote the LGBT community. This is a perfect example that seems to show that some companies are starting to care about adding in gay characters rather than money. Let’s hope there will be stimulate more inclusion in AAA titles.
Before exploring all this, my honest opinion was that these companies just wanted people’s money, tapping into previously ignored markets, but now it seems to me that these companies just didn’t know how to portray the community. Trepidation about getting it right without jamming it in the faces of their main audience seemed to hold many back from fully exploring the option of LGBT inclusion. Thankfully, companies like EA have started introducing characters, and they set a strong standard for inclusion and development of characters that reflect reality, ones that are proud.
I can’t wait to see what the future holds and hopefully we will see AAA titles with strong gay character leads, ones that aren’t thrown in to pander to an LGBT audience.
