Video game industry faces pressure for greater LGBT+ inclusion

The video game industry, one of the largest in entertainment, is facing increasing pressure due to a lack of LGBT+ representation. Mary Kenney, associate narrative director at Insomniac Games, highlighted this issue in a recent interview with Dualshockers, emphasizing the urgent need to improve the inclusion of queer characters in games.

Kenney, who worked on titles such as “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales” and “The Walking Dead: The Final Season”, considers that, despite the increase in the inclusion of LGBTQ characters, there is still a long way to go. Although the number of gamers who identify as LGBT+ is growing, only 2% of games on major console and PC platforms include queer characters.

For Kenney, games are an important means of socializing the LGBT+ community, but many LGBT+ gamers feel that developers do not consider them when creating games. She defends the need to use all available resources — characters, community support, game mechanics — to improve this situation.

“Games play a crucial role in socialization and representation. Many LGBTQ gamers don’t feel like they are remembered by programmers during game development,” Kenney said. She believes that to achieve meaningful representation, it is critical to include queer characters in an authentic and deep way, allowing LGBTQ players to feel truly seen and represented.

Kenney also highlighted that the expressive inclusion of LGBTQ characters not only responds to a need for fair representation, but also makes financial sense given the growing number of gamers who identify as LGBTQ. “The video game industry needs to recognize and value the importance of creating experiences that tell LGBTQ gamers that they matter and belong in the industry,” she said.

By Ezatamentchy