More Than Just a Combo of Slaps? Representations and Experiences of LGBT Gamers On and Beyond the Screen

Ben Light's paper examines how lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT) themes and characters appear in digital games, and how LGBT gamers experience gaming spaces both on and beyond the screen. The work responds to a gap in game studies, where the sexuality of players has received far less scholarly attention than gender. Drawing on materials about and from gaming across several platforms, the author argues that LGBT content is engaged with in distinct ways: socially exclusive, as with profile banning on the Xbox Live community; socially inclusive, as with the possibility of same-sex marriage in Temple of Elemental Evil; and instrumental, as with the sexualized lesbian characters deployed to appeal to male players in Fear Effect 2.

The analysis finds that LGBT-identifying characters appear in both peripheral and integral roles, and sometimes in unexpected titles. The paper notes substantial ambiguity, since many characters' sexual identities are inferred or labelled by players and developers, which makes their status contested. Some LGBT characters carry ludic value, as in Bully: Scholarship Edition, while others carry narrative value, as in Grand Theft Auto IV. The paper also identifies intertextuality, drawing comparisons between developers' choices about character deployment and the lived experiences of LGBT communities outside games.

Beyond gameplay, the author reports that LGBT gamers' experiences of gaming spaces can be safe, considered, and humorous, but can also involve homophobia. The paper concludes that this area warrants further research, while acknowledging that for many LGBT players, sexuality does not necessarily shape their gameplay or their broader experiences of gaming.