The media advocacy organization GLAAD released their first annual GLAAD Gaming Report, which highlights LGBTQ representation in video games. GLAAD partnered with Nielsen Gaming and found that nearly 1 in 5 active gamers are LGBTQ, yet less than 2% of available console games include LGBTQ characters or storylines.
“We are nearly invisible in game representations despite being a significant percentage of gamers,” Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD president and CEO, said in the report.
The 2024 GLAAD Gaming Report evaluates the quantity, quality and diversity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer characters in video games during the 2023 calendar year. The report aims to educate the game industry on the current state of LGBTQ representation, create a facts-based business case for LGBTQ inclusion and provide a guide for more authentic representation.
“We developed this report and the GLAAD Media Institute’s Gaming program as a resource for the critical need to increase the representation and options for LGBTQ characters and storylines in games,” Ellis said. “Games should include an array of characters and stories, including LGBTQ ones, and every gamer should be safe.”
68% of LGBTQ gamers agree with the statement: “I wish there were more prominent LGBTQ storylines in games.”
The report states that a possible reason why gaming companies haven’t considered representing LGBTQ people is because they don’t see the community as a major part of core gaming audiences, nor do they want to push the majority of gamers away that they assume are hostile to LGBTQ content.
However, the research found that having games with LGBTQ characters would make no difference to the majority of non-LGBTQ gamers. 60% of non-LGBTQ gamers said they wouldn’t mind if a game had an LGBTQ player character storyline, and 70% said if a game had the option for the player character to be gay, lesbian or bisexual it would not effect their decision to buy the game.
LGBTQ active gamers also report similar percentages as non-LGBTQ gamers regarding platforms they use, genres they play, average hours played and money spent.
While the report proves there aren’t any major differences between LGBTQ gamers and non-LGBTQ gamers, there are some exceptions. LGBTQ gamers are more likely to play on Nintendo Switch consoles, even though the Nintendo Switch Store has the lowest percentage of available games that contain LGBTQ characters or storylines. Single-player games are most often played by both groups, but LGBTQ gamers are more likely to play cooperative multiplier games while non-LGBTQ gamers are more likely to play competitive multiplayer games. The report also mentions that LGBTQ gamers are more likely to play open-world, simulation, role playing, horror and puzzle games, while non-LGBTQ gamers are more likely to play shooter games.
Games have opened the gates for people to explore fantastical worlds, experience narratives in new ways, simulate day-to-day life and recreate real events. With the global population of LGBTQ people increasing every year, people are calling for the gaming industry to reflect this.
“Games are a medium in which players can be anything, but the game industry continues to rely on very narrow representational options,” the report said.
75% of LGBTQ gamers who reside in states where anti-LGBTQ legislation has been recently passed or proposed agree with the statement: “Gaming allows me to express myself in a way I don’t feel comfortable doing in the real world.”
For some LGBTQ gamers, gaming is necessary for them to cope with real-world discrimination and targeting. 72% of LGBTQ gamers said that seeing characters with their gender identity or sexual orientation makes them feel better about themselves, 75% said games allow them to express themselves in ways they don’t feel comfortable doing in the real world and 50% said they feel more accepted in gaming communities than where they live.
“We believe that LGBTQ inclusion benefits both the video game industry and community,” Blair Durkee, associate director of gaming at GLAAD, said. “As this report shows, the presence of LGBTQ characters or storylines doesn’t meaningfully deter non-LGBTQ people from buying or playing games, but it makes a huge difference to LGBTQ gamers.”
Source: GLAAD
