Are “gay games” an emerging niche market? Steam thinks so.
[wpsm_dropcap]T[/wpsm_dropcap]he other day I was perusing Polygon.com where I came across an interesting article titled, “Steam adds official LGBTQ+ tag for games“. Honestly, do people care if games are LGBTQ? Steam seems to thinks so. And with an overwhelming amount of games on the market, developers are seeking out different story-telling methods in order to reach new audiences. Are “gay games” an emerging niche market? Let’s talk about that.
Bigots or trolls might suggest that nobody is actually oppressed and an LGBTQ+ tag is idiotic. Don’t ask me what the + symbol stands for. Less progressive crowds might say there should be “straight” tags if there are “gay” tags. Trolls might even attract negative attention to gay games out of spite or hate. Or trolls might attract negative attention to gay games because deep down, they might have a fear of becoming gay and that’s why they find this whole LGBTQ+ thing so concerning.
Either way, anything that goes against the status quo will receive resistance. But despite this resistance, LGBTQ+ niche markets are a growing trend in media.
Since 2010, we’ve seen an influx of gay content. From YouTubers like Troye Sivan and James Charles advocating for gay rights and news outlets like Vox featuring Carlos Maza as their lead reporter; gay identity has become recognized as commonplace in mainstream media. And now, in 2019, games are being made solely for the LGBTQ+ community.
Life is Strange: Before the Storm is played by a gay female character. It’s a story about two young women on the cusp of adulthood who come together amidst confusion, ambiguities and all. The game even has a make-out scene. It was pretty gay and awesome. Alongside Life is Strange, there are plenty of other games that allow you to “play gay”. This tumblr blog has an entire list of different games you can try out that are considered gay.
Even MMO games like ourWorld, Hotel Hideaway, Fortnite, and many others celebrate gay pride month by offering exclusive in-game items (that cost money).
Believe it or not, lots of gay people love playing video games. Who would’ve thought? In the future, I suspect that we’ll see more gay people portrayed in gaming and that’s a good thing.
Thank you for reading.
