GLAAD says games are failing LGBTQ players | Gaming news this week

Our weekly gaming news show is here to make sure you're up to speed on what's happening in the world of video games.
00:00 Intro
00:09 Xbox rumor mill
00:39 Ubisoft pledges to be good again
01:24 Gaming has never been gayer
05:36 Bonus content
06:04 Now Playing
Subscribe: / engadget
Like us on Facebook: / engadget
Follow us on Twitter: / engadget
Follow us on Instagram: / engadget
Follow us on TikTok: / engadget
The Engadget Podcast: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
More about Engadget Audio: www.engadget.com/podcasts/
Read more: www.engadget.com

[@juniorbarra8296]

Are they insane?!? How long do we have to accept this 💩💩💩?!?!

[@macbaryum]

As long as there exists brain dead people

[@Sdramsay1977]

I am "LGBT". This story depresses the crap out of me. I don't want to care how a videogame character identifies. I don't need to know the sexuality of a videogame character (?!) unless it is a relevant to a story driven game. If the gladd report triggers shoehorning "queer" themes into videogames where they are not relevant, the whole industry will suffer. Let them concentrate on making games fun, enough of this crap.

[@Red_Twizzler]

Well put. Thank you

[@MrDeaz]

Why are we only talking about LG TV users? What about us with a Samsung TV?

[@gustavodebrito]

Good one 😂

[@matthewdanahy9411]

Nobody plays games for that

[@userre85]

Engadget becomes buzzfeed

[@witness1013]

Then 'they' should make their own games

[@Arkadiaraven]

Lol I mean they wouldn't play them unless it's a popular ip being defaced in order to accommodate these tourists

[@hiddendrifts]

i'd like to see them try lmao. i doubt a game whose only merit is "diversity" will be very interesting but who knows, maybe they'll surprise everyone

[@yusufreloaded]

I am also with the idea that they should design their own games

[@MoMo-ul6uk]

First, your tattoo art is incredible (big up the artists). Second, I totally agree that non-heteronormative content in video games is scarce. Hopefully, the GLAAD report wakes up studios in increasing representations based on sexuality.

[@fantoniumnitrous]

So virtue signalling is the answer to make games better?

[@MoMo-ul6uk]

@@fantoniumnitrous I think you misunderstand here. Video games with traditional representations are fine and will always stay around. It’s more about creating a space for LGBT games. The idea is to be inclusive, not replace every game with multiple representations (that would be virtue signalling).

[@fantoniumnitrous]

@@MoMo-ul6uk Yh, they WANT to replace everything. I mean she was just talking about how Hollywood is veering away from LGBT stuff which wouldn't even surprise me because even moviegoers are sick and tired of this woke ideology, sorry "representation" being shoved down their throats. It's the same thing with gamers who clearly aren't a myth as she says. You say video games with traditional representation are here to stay so then what was all that Stellar Blade hatred all about? Video games shouldn't be inclusive, they should be awesome to play. It's about entertaining players, not educating them. That's why gaming has gotten so downhill in recent years and how it'll never top the 90s and 2000s eras of gaming.

[@GurbyTheGreat]

I wouldn't care personally if there was more options in character creation sure.. But don't try to force feed representation into everything, it's already destroying tv and film industry because most of the time it feels forced into scenes for the sake of it. Everyone's sick of company's trying to pander, and especially the cheapest phony ass ways

[@matthewdanahy9411]

Video games arent developed with sexuality in mind, so youre discussing a pointless topic Also theyre usually designed to appeal to the widest margin of people to get more players

[@nickthaskater]

Dead or Alive Beach Volleyball would like a word.

[@grumpybear6331]

well, umm, actually, many are, its subtle, but it is there

[@matthewdanahy9411]

@@grumpybear6331 such as? And most aren't. See call of duty and a bunch of live service games meant to satisfy as many people as possible That's why so many franchises have lost their identity because they want to appeal to a "broader audience". Halo is a prime example

[@frishter]

Correct, they warp statistics to push a dishonest narrative. That somehow there's oppression because pac man didn't have a boyfriend.

[@paul_hankin]

Somewhere there's a tattoo artist that deserves royalties from this video.

[@ElijaReyd]

Just want to say there is a serious problem with the statistics considering the gaming market sample is from the entire market where as the film sample is from 2022 alone. Anyone who understands how statistics should be read would know that the entire article says absolutely nothing.

[@tattooedredheadx]

"GLAAD says games are failing LGBTQ players." - Me: GOOD.

[@brunoutechkaheeros1182]

im GLAAD it is like that 😂😂😂

[@vgilalejandria]

WOKE ideas are destroying the Movies and TV Show and I'm not too fond of that for the only entertaiment left for me...

[@colinvaughn8315]

Don't + Care

[@richardgarrett3188]

Games creators should create what sells and can make the company money. We don't need games to be representative of real life. If people with any kind of disability, which is more than the number of LGBTQIA+ population, also demanded equal representation (blind, quadriplegic, deaf, one-armed, one-legged, downs syndrome, arthritis, etc). Would this make better games?

[@PortfolioPL]

Games are made for a global audience and thus do not need include more sexual orientation diversity. Games already have huge diversity in terms of people from various countries, economical background, family status, etc.

[@PachecoBrew]

GAMES DONT NEED SEXUAL PREFERENCE TO BE INCLUDED. THEY ARE GAMES!! MEANING NOT REAL LIFE!!!

[@nicolass2262]

Imagine me doing a whole video because my 2004 Renault Twingo is not "represented" in Rocket League.

[@rafraba]

Video games don't have to be representative of our lives at all for it to be a good experience. This study is just silly.

[@VideoHussain]

something tells me if games stopped representing straight white men entirely starting tomorrow, you'd feel some sort of way about that.

[@mojavekight1771]

Sonic? Aliens?

[@TheDragonKnight98]

​@VideoHussain I'm not a white man what a fuckin weird comment by you. Has nothing to do with OP's point whatsoever.

[@cyxceven]

@@VideoHussain I don't care how _fictional_ characters fak. Something tells me that if my shmups took out sexual representation, they'd still be shmups. I don't really ident as a spaceship, but they're still fun as heck.

[@MrYuck-ec5do]

@@VideoHussain something tells me if your sexuality didn't define your entire personality, you probably wouldn't care either.

[@ajmatt]

I still regret buying far cry 6 to this day. That game had insufferable LGTV characters that had no reason being part of the story missions. Nah I hope gaming remains the last bastion against the wokeass crap being shoved down our throats every minute of the day by our corporate overlords.

[@ElecBrane]

What’s the percentage of LGBTQ+- of our society? We can represent them exactly.

[@hiddendrifts]

i really do find it funny to see these people complaining about minorities being "underrepresented" when... it's in the name. they're underrepresented bc they a minority. you don't go to china expecting to see white people get represented in their media, so why would media that caters to a primarily cis/het audience be dominated by characters that aren't cis/het?

[@HoobriBoobri]

2-3%?

[@youwantthisusername1]

If you watched the video, 17% of gamers. In society, for example in the UK, about 10% using ONS sensus survey data.

[@hiddendrifts]

i'm willing to bet there's more right leaning gamers than there are lgbtq, and yet you don't hear anyone advocating for more representation of right wing values [eg. tradition, religion, stoicism] bc those values won't always fit in every story

[@namechecksout6300]

Woke ideas will destroy the games industry.

[@WeeWeeJumbo]

how will they do this? as she mentioned, normal gamers don’t hate queer representation.

[@TaskForceEntertainment2022]

@@Darth_X0 everything democrats try to force on us ??? veganism , LGBT, climate change , and the rest of stupid things

[@mojavekight1771]

Google it yourself

[@TheDragonKnight98]

Exactly

[@frishter]

They destroy everything including society.

[@ighea]

Could you make a specific specialized channel for this content?

[@KillDeathRatioDJ]

Also did anyone notice that Switch shop has the label on games LGBT, guess they forgot about the Q, now there will be an uprising of the Q's. SMH

[@XboxxxGuy]

I'll gladly disagree with GLAAD. I have plenty of games.

[@maximerebelo6601]

Don't care about their political agenda

[@hermanjohnson9180]

I think part of the reason is because a lot of the player base is socially inept. So it's just something that the industry will have to get better at representing over time.

[@chadvader974]

Go play spiderman and tell me forced representation is a good thing.

[@matthewdanahy9411]

"Gaming has never been gayer" literally what 😂

[@vroitwyrd]

I just like video games

[@dmmpg]

They are overrespresented, I would say.

[@QuietContender]

So this one is clearly going to be controversial (and judging by the dislike ratio, oh boy it is). We havent even solved ethnic representation in games and organisations like GLAAD want to now put a spotlight on LGBTQ at a time where it seems like it's a overly discussed topic. 60% of humans on the planet are Asian, why aren't there more Asian protagonists in games? Why is the enormous and beautiful continent of Africa depicted poorly in games? RE5 anyone? I personally don't care about the game character's gender identity, but in most TV shows or movies that include LGBTQ, they either seem shoehorned in or that their gender identity is 90% of the character's personality. If the type of story being written is about identity in that way, or the character is written well then it works, but otherwise it seems forced. Cyberpunk 2077 has one of the best handling of LGBTQ in a game(that I've seen and is in a genre of game I'm interested in playing), trans character Claire. Though some people apparently thought an ad in the game was offencive despite all the others also being hyper sexualized and offensive.

[@KevinTheSoftwareTester]

So developers have to market their games to 20% of the population (according to the study)? Do these people know how business works

[@conanthebarb9194]

20%?! More like 1-2%. Most gays now a days are just pretending to get sympathy points online.

[@desktorp]

yeah 20% lol.. what a lie. It's like 1-2% tops. Everything about the ideology is inflated and dishonest.

[@HoobriBoobri]

Sorry, but I am not so glad to see what GLAAD is doing....

[@idiedlastmonth]

LMFAO. This IS the onion news.

[@andresvalenzuela6338]

Nope!

[@auroraflash]

Good 👍

[@JohnnyWalkerKat]

Are a NPC or player sexuality is crucial to the game story? No Lets bust some balls about non gay character in games. You know you can get a lot better results for your cause if you just stop busting balls every time there isn't some "insert gay here" kind of think. Educate people spread your cause and i know its bad but you have to wait. Wait for the older generation to be gone while the new will embrace it. Its sad but true

[@frishter]

Do not let them hijack our games. There will never be enough representation and they are very vocal about what they think about the core audience. They tell you that it is "hateful" to not represent them, when in actuality they never were excluded from gaming and sexuality as a whole was never a big thing. These people almost always are incapable of making characters and story lines that you enjoy, which is why they so heavily need to use your nostalgia against you and remake them "for a modern audience" rather than creating something new that would only flop. They will not listen to your complaints on what you find bad about the media, hence they will not improve. They will continue blaming you for not supporting them enough. They will tell you that including what they want is "not a big deal", but then have a different stance if you even remove their messaging via game mods. This is subversion preying on your empathy, but they are uninterested in your feelings. These people will tell you about the discrimination hurting them, whilst also telling us that more of genz identify as rainbow because of increased acceptance. They want to be empowered and the victim based on what is convenient at the time. They are not honest people. They do not hold themselves to the same standards as you. The more they push their messaging, the more divided we became. This is not a coincidence. Hogwarts Legacy is the perfect example of how they treated the game and players that went over the top to try to be "inclusive". It will never be enough. Let them make their own games. You are allowed to have your own interests no matter how much they gaslight you. Encourage games to be fun, not a false sense of what is "representative".

[@razorgarf]

Enough

[@TaskForceEntertainment2022]

Go woke go broke we already show that .... make woke games and play it do not force it on us we do not want any LGBT things to add in our games at all. also why you hide dislikes ?? that should be good research for ya all . also that is good i am not sub to this garbage

[@alvarotriana]

Great video, thanks!

[@VideoHussain]

There have been so many times that a queer character in a popular game changed homophobic minds around me. I remember The Last Of Us: Left Behind revealing Ellie is a lesbian a decade ago. I remember my cousins and friends being disgusted by it. Last week, my cousins texted me to tell me I should continue Horizon Forbidden West because Aloy is gay. Representation absolutely affects societal progress by evoking compassion for the "other".

[@franzpleurmann2585]

I actual prefer the non green screen version over the green screen version. It's more relatable and doesnt feel so artifically.

[@sputnikfreshie3601]

Stupid agenda 👎

[@WeeWeeJumbo]

hm, i'd never thought about this topic! these are fair points about it though. i want our queer cousins to feel good about gaming too, why not

[@W0rp3D]

Time for the queer community to come up with a game that gives them exactly what they want, we all know that it doesn't matter how much queer content they put into a game they'll never be happy, stand up queer developers and put out a game for your community

[@youwantthisusername1]

Definitely need more games like TLOU 2

[@keithmichael112]

🙄

[@33TimeTraveler]

lgbtq+ pro ultra turbo edition

[@desktorp]

hyperqueer championship edition

[@BDM4972]

Oh FFS 🤦‍♂️

[@Arkadiaraven]

😂😂😂

[@frankdatank5002]

Woke will kill gaming look what it did to Disney

[@samfromsalem]

Looking professional as ever in front of the camera!

[@DJ_Macphisto]

That's what RPGs are for. Go play them, one of the Life is Strange games or The Last of Us Part 2, GLAAD. And after that, kindly screw off out of this industry.

[@Richard-rk1ru]

Most games are not here to discuss complex social topics and these themes have no place there. And those games that do choose to discuss mature and complex topics do so because the devs want to explore those ideas. Acting upon these stupid broad recommendations from the likes of GLAAD only ruins the artistic integrity of that work. What even gives some people the impression that the content they consume has to reflect their own life situation? If they really cared about it, they would seek works that truly go in depth on their particular topic of interest and would allow them to gain some deeper inside to get closer to satisfying that itch. But because of the twitter mob, we all have to suffer with this woke poison forcing itself into everything that doesn't need it nor will benefit from it, just because they want to milk those unfortunate enough to not realize they're being played because of their identity.

[@AaronCrawford]

Buy a game company and make some

[@ServioUribe]

Click click click click click click. LGBTQ+ click click click.

[@Prouddad305]

Smh when will our country stop peddling this nonsense

[@mastershredder873]

oh its disney..... wait

[@Red_Twizzler]

Supply and demand

[@jaeger6846]

Sure, let us make more LGBT games and movies, then see how their revenues turn out. At least, I am sure that if the quality is not sh!tty, people are definitely buying.

[@RAM_845]

They're trying to push companies to discriminate and be racists towards people who are not part of their agenda / narrative.

[@tanvironik8005]

lmao

[@Alienwarez567Epic]

If the games let you decide which character you want to play and how you play, then its all good that would be the best of both worlds. But dont just shoe horn it in there at the cost of the story and the game.

[@KillDeathRatioDJ]

Out of touch for LGBTQ??? What do you want, an entire LGBTQ storyline along with all the pro noun non sense?

[@freakzillasjc]

Buncha clowns

[@davaughnallen3324]

There is lots of LGBTQ representation... Inserting these ideas in video games played mostly by heterosexual children is a bad idea... It's literally amplifying edge cases, and shows complete disregard for non-LGBTQ players who make up the majority of these player bases... js

[@cyxceven]

Underrepresented demographics get upset when people not in their demographic try to insert representation on their behalf. We have no choice on the matter according to the demographic. So, if folks from said demographic _really_ want to be represented then they have to participate and represent themselves. i.e. If you learn to design games and learn to program, you can represent whatever you want. It's not going to be easy. Nothing worthwhile ever is.

[@__swamp__829]

Gosh I starting to hate these ppl even more

[@homuranagato8047]

Hoping to see more LGBTQ+ representation in video games as well.

[@RAM_845]

@@userxuserx hear hear! I agree, MAKE YOUR OWN GAMES do infiltrate your politics into OUR games.

[@Emiror]

I could do with a little representation.

[@paraskokakola]

Keep Yourself Safe! 😊

[@PaulJacobson]

Thank you for the segment on LGBTQ+ representation in gaming, Jessica. My son is trans and I can see how having characters and themes that he can identify with means a lot to him.

[@conanthebarb9194]

Bet you loved helping him turn “trans”.

[@PaulJacobson]

@@conanthebarb9194 What a ridiculous thing to say. He is who and what he is, he makes his own decisions.

[@PaulJacobson]

@@Bilalnwo Clearly you aren't a parent. I love my child, and I am proud of him regardless of how he identifies and who he loves. Any loving parent wants little more for their children to be happy and healthy.

[@matthewdanahy9411]

​@PaulJacobson there is literally no reason for your young child to be thinking about that kind of thing unless there is some kind of influence

[@PaulJacobson]

@@matthewdanahy9411 My son has been more aware of his gender for several years now. We just provided him with the emotional support and space to be himself.

[@markb.265]

Blech. Gross ink.