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Abstract
This article discusses the questions of LGBTQ+ representation in video games through the eyes of queer gamers and creators. The methodology of this work is based on Fairclough's critical discourse analysis, which is applied to a corpus of texts primarily from the social website Reddit. Critical discourse analysis is used to contextualize the statements of the speakers in the wider sociocultural framework. The findings are supported by previous research done in queer game studies by authors such as Bonnie Ruberg and Gaspard Pelurson. The first part of the work focuses on the approach game creators choose when creating a queer representation, which can be summarized as balancing between inclusivity and avoiding conflict with conservative markets. The second part delves into the stances LGBTQ+ gamers express towards queer representation in games. They point out various issues, such as marginalization and stereotypization, which can be however used to improve the credibility of characters.
Keywords
game studies, discourse, representation, queer studies, video games, LGBTQ+ representation in media
Introduction
"Mass effect had you fighting against eldrich machines that looked like giant ass Squids and Cuttlefish, but Bisexuals in space? That's a tad too far."i)
This is how one of the users of the internet forum Reddit describes the irony of the struggles of queer representation in video games. He points out how in settings where magic, faster-than-light spaceships, or sentient weapons are the norm, we can still find sparse imagery of queerness. And even if we do, it is very often marginalized, stereotyped, and the cause of uproar in the wider gaming community. Some voices reject any sort of LGBTQ+ representation as being forced, political pandering, and "shoving the gays down our throats" The other side of this conflict calls for wider representation, a representation that is fulfilling and can serve as a role model for queer people. A representation that matters. The creators of video games themselves are caught in a web of business interests and desire for artistic expression that can either support or reject any notion of queerness in gaming. As is discussed over the course of this study, even the groups supportive of queer representation are internally heterogeneous.
This diverse landscape is the basis for the topic of this article. We find ourselves...