GLAAD releases its first-ever report on LGBT inclusion in video games. In that report, he claims that 17% of active gamers are LGBT. The group is currently calling on the gaming industry to include more games featuring gay characters and to hire more LGBT workers “in positions of authority.”
According to a GLAAD report conducted in partnership with Nielsen Games, 17 percent of gamers are LGBT, and 72 percent of LGBT gamers say seeing characters with the same identity or sexual orientation makes them feel better about themselves. I found out that report By IGN.
The report surveyed 1,452 active PC and console gamers in the U.S. from July to August 2023, and also said that number jumped to 78% for LGBT gamers between the ages of 13 and 17. There is.
Their research found that LGBT gamers are 11% more likely to use gaming as a means of escaping difficult situations in the real world, and 24% more likely to rely on gaming to get through difficult situations. says. Additionally, 66% of LGBT gamers say gaming allows them to express themselves in ways they might not be comfortable with in everyday life.
Nintendo’s Switch eShop has been criticized for having the lowest percentage of games with LGBT characters and stories.
Meanwhile, Microsoft had 146 games featuring LGBT content available on its Xbox Store, compared to PlayStation’s 90, Nintendo’s 50, and Steam’s 2,302, when you filter out the “Mature Sexual Content” tag. That number has dropped to 1,506.
According to GLAAD, these four cases represent less than 2% of all available game libraries.
The organization therefore calls on the gaming industry to increase the proportion of games that include LGBT content, to strive for “representation that promotes inclusivity and acceptance,” and to take “a responsibility to make gaming communities more inclusive.” , asking to consult with “LGBTQ media content experts.” ” and hire “LGBTQ workers in positions of authority.”
“There are several reasons why there is a lack of LGBTQ representation in the gaming industry,” GLAAD said in a statement.
The statement continued:
Some reasons for exclusion are negative. Game companies often don’t think they should represent LGBTQ people and don’t see us as a major part of their core gaming audience. Several exclusion reasons are valid. Companies worry about alienating core audiences who they assume are resistant to or hostile to LGBTQ content.
However, this imagined core audience is a myth, and one of the reasons why it was paramount for GLAAD to produce this game report. LGBTQ games are a significant part of the existing active gamer market, and non-LGBTQ gamers are generally less resistant to this content than many assume. Games represent a vast and lucrative market. By some metrics, global revenue from video games exceeds revenue from the movie and music industries combined.
“Despite its reach, the gaming industry has not kept pace with modern media in terms of LGBTQ representation, leaving LGBTQ consumers disappointed,” GLAAD argued.
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