Ubisoft writer: people are still afraid gay characters will impact sales

GameDynamo - "According to Ubisoft Montreal writer Lucien Soulban, the reason we've not yet seen a gay character in a blockbuster title is becase people are still worried they'll impact sales numbers."

[GribbleGrunger]

Well, that's a bummer.

[HebrewHammer]

Tell that to The Last of Us, Ubisoft.

LOTS of gay characters in that game of the generation.

[BattleN]

A hero to me should be straight, strong, and cool not gay. Although gay people can kick ass lol I'd rather see a normal protagonist in my games!

[nirwanda]

At battle N have you ever heard of the kray brothers maybe you should read about them before thinking all gays are camp.

[PoSTedUP]

i doubt it will impact sales if it isnt the main character. and if its the main charcter, i only think it will impact sales if he is flamboyant. i just wouldnt feel right holding a sword or a gun. ive met not one flamboyant homosexual that is hardcore. it depends on the game but the same goes for female charcters; there are the ones who can get down (ellie, laura) with a strong persona, and then the ones who break a nail and complain. same for straight males, i dont wanna play as a b****-dude, save that for a different game... most of the blockbusters are hardcore games, thats what ppl want bc thats why They are blockbusters!

devs can do it right and make it happen, but that is purly up to them. hell, they can turn a new IP into a blockbuster, so technically if they do it right, that game can litterally be anything.

i do think the main problem is the intimacy between two men (not two women, bc that is a turn-on for a lot of guys). dont get me wrong, love is a beautyful thing, but im pretty sure gays are a minority, and a straight male would find it hard to relate to the connection and intimacy of two guys. they would feel more in-tune with whats going on if their character was kissing/sweet-talking a women, plus im pretty sure it releases chemicals in the brain like oxytocin, domamine or seratonin etc. all sausage for a straight male in an intimate situation with their character isnt nearly as good if it would inolve a female, and thats why devs are hesitant, they could lose a lot of money if the gane doesnt sell and would be a big risk to take in the first place.

[Minipandaninja]

Could be pretty funny tough. Imagine your character shooting people and screaming flamboyent things. Even if he was straight it could be funny.

Mass effect and dragon age had gay character and i dont think it impacted sales

[PoSTedUP]

funny= yes, probably, in a specific taste.

an attribute to a blockbuster title that devs want to sell the most they can in an industry that is less understanding= most likely not...

there is an article in the pending section (sorry no link) the Fight to Get Gay into Videogames. watch the gameplay, its a good example of what you are talking about. except it gets ridiculous and annoying after the first time you hear the extremely sterotypical gay stuff, imo. i dont think even 50% of gays can relate to it... lol its so over the top and even gays on youtube say its insulting. but then again it is satire, so... you cant please everyone (but devs want to please the most people they can w/o taking an outlandish risk to try and please a minority or even to set an example)

[3-4-5]

If the character is really likeable, then I don't care if they are gay.

Have the character just be a normal dude or women who happens to be gay and not some annoying stereotype and it's a win/win for everybody.

Would I prefer my characters to be straight? Sure i could relate to them better then, but I don't play games because of the sexual preference of a main character.

* That being said, Stop including annoying characters in games all together. Men, women, straight, gay.....annoying is annoying.

[Thatguy-310]

No one is afraid of anything. Its 2014 already. When people dont accept it it's simply because they feel that the material is beign forced on them. Ellie could be gay but guess what that doesn't define her as a character. The industry and gamers a like still love her. Make a well crafted character that can stand on it's own and their sexuality will be the last thing people think about. If beign "GAY" is the only thing that the character has going for it then people are going to be put off. Sexuality shouldn't define anyone let it be from a game,book,movie or in life.

[Bigpappy]

Correct. If don't right it adds an element of real world to the game. i.e. Morrowind had racism, gangs, gays, classism, slavery, along with thieves, murderers and beast of the night. I loved that game.

100% straight male here though, so please don't try hitting me up.

[thehitman]

Hey there biigpappy How you doing ;)?

On a serious note lol, there are still a lot of people who don't agree with homosexuality but in terms of expressing art and games I think it has space in it and dont think gamers are that close minded into not buying a game because there are gay characters in it.

If the main pro/antagonist are gay in a major game it can sort of cause a stirr... I cant imagine Drake, Mario, or Master Cheif being gay characters if you put everything into perspective. Would people want to buy CoD if the main character your playing is flirting with his squad members?

[Ogygian]

This.

But. I wouldn't expect to see many homosexual protagonists at all.

Assuming most of the population prefer to play "avatars" who look and act like them (or how they would like to), then as only around 2-5% of the population are homosexual, we shouldn't expect to see many gay protagonists (well none, except in Indie games), given the small market size.

As for other characters, it should fit the setting as has been said. In modern day Germany, I'd expect around one in 40 characters to be openly gay, for example.

[BattleN]

Ellie is not gay she's lesbian haha!

[aLucidMind]

You basically just said "she doesn't like women, she's a lesbian".

[zeronhero]

i don't want to play as the gay character, because i cant really identify with the character in that angle. seeing my character kiss another guy would be a turn off.

I am talking relations in terms of sexuality. That is just the way the world works. There is nothing wrong in making a gay protagonist, it is just not for me.

But having the gay or female quota in everything is stupid, they should only be there if it was the plan from the beginning not due to political correctness.

[_LarZen_]

But you can identity with a character that kills hundreds? I kinda find that a little concerning and disturbing...?

[zeronhero]

you really dont know how to read do you
"cant really identify with the character in that ANGLE. seeing my character kiss another guy would be a turn off."

Sorry but that is the worst counter example.

[MxRBrobaFett]

Hey what's up fox news

[RebelWAC]

I'm sorry but finding logic in your rebbutal is concerning and disturbing.

[Ogygian]

Sexuality and morality are VERY different. One is biological, the other is learned/chosen.

[_LarZen_]

So you get turned on by watching gaming characters of the opposite sex fool around? Interesting... All I see is pixels...and in real life all I see is people.

And I don't like labeling people...everything is as nature intended it to be. Or God,Allah etc if you are of the religious type.

[GamingNerd013]

Yeah I'm with u man I have nothing against gay people or chars.in games. But at same time I can't relete a char. If he's the main in game simply cause I'm not gay. I'm fine with gay chars. In games kinda like that JRPG game enchanted forgot his name I found him funny and likable cause of his funny personality as long as they r like a side story char. But not as main. As 4 females being main I have no problem cause most of the time they just badass chars playing as like Lara from tomb raider.

[ElementX]

Well I can't identify with stereotypical "street" talking black characters. I find them a huge turn off. GTA 5 is almost intolerable because of Franklin. It's completely unnecessary to drop the f-bomb every other line.

[aLucidMind]

I found his friend to be worse. Hearing "nigga" almost three times every line or two often made Franklin's side of the story near unbearable for me to play until he started getting away from the idiot >_<

[ABizzel1]

@zeronhero

But if they were there from the beginning instead of as you said political correctness people would be turned off still.

I have no problem with gay characters in games, and it seems like most people are only concerned about seeing "your" character getting affectionate with another male character which I don't think any game / developer would force feed a relationship like that. I seriously doubt we'll see a game where your character is PHYSICALLY SHOWN slanging thang around with another character, and if that's your biggest concern then it's a dumb one.

Bill from The Last of Us was a good example of a characters who sexuality didn't matter. You didn't know it, until the letter, and even then it did nothing to hurt his character by finding that out.

So let's say the Last of Us 2 starred a gay character, or or Halo 5 revealed Master Chief was gay none of you would play those games at all for the simple fact that the main character was gay?

IMO as long as it's not all the developer is pushing for defining the character it doesn't matter to me, nor should it matter to anyone else. A great character is a great character regardless of gender, race, or sexuality.

That being said a characters sexuality shouldn't be brought up in most games anyway unless it's something like a Mass Effect or other heavily story driven game where relationship / backstory between characters is important. But sex in general in unnecessary for games, movies, and most forms of entertainment, and affection for characters is more than enough.

No one cares if Marcus Fenix and Dom were butt buddies or not, as gamers we just want to kill Locust and play with friends and in that regard it shouldn't matter about the character at all. Homosexuality isn't the flu, and it won't infect you in real life, and certainly not digitally through pixels.

But to not play a game because of a fictional characters sexuality is silly to me. A great character is a great character and a great game is a great game.

I guess it's just all a matter of how/where you grew up and how/where you're raised. As a child and in school I was always taught not to see color, gender, or anything else, but to see people for who they are. And I surround myself with good hearted people regardless of their lifestyle.

[Sketchy_Galore]

I have to admit if given the choice I prefer to play as a white heterosexual male because that's what I am so that's the role I find easiest to inhabit. It's never a deal breaker to play as a character of another race, gender or sexual orientation but if I'm given the choice I always pick white male. I even always pick human if given a choice of species, it's just the way I interact with games, I prefer to place myself in the shoes of the lead character and the more outwardly similar to me that character is the easier I find it.

It's for that very reason that I don't get all bent out of shape when I hear about a gay character in a videogame. I'm sure gay people would prefer to play as a gay character given the choice and providing them with the occasional option to do this isn't exactly forcing some agenda down my throat. The majority of games still cater primarily to me. When almost every videogame character is gay I will start complaining about an agenda being pushed on me but the occasional gay lead character is only fair. If it's not as fun for me playing as this gay character then I'll just know how gay gamers feel playing 99.9% of games out there.

Still I think forcing a gay character into a game just to fill a quota may lead to some pretty terrible writing. Just judging by what an awful stereotype the token black guy in most games always turns out to be.

[FRAKISTAN]

I really hate when homosexuality and Anti-Sexism is shoved down my throat and rubbed on my face.

an i really hate when all the comments will be like " I have nothing against gay or i'm not homophobic"

Its 100% fine not to like homosexuality at all and there is no need to specially mention that you have nothing against gay people

[Talidan]

Where do you draw the line, though? Is it strictly okay to dislike homosexuality, or does that mean it's also okay to dislike homosexuals?

Personally, I swing both ways, but I'm not yelling and screaming for there to be bi video game characters, because that's not the point of games. If a character is bi, gay, straight, that's fine. It's what they do that matters. I wouldn't want a game throwing homosexuality in my face, but nothing wrong with someone being a homosexual in a game.

It's roughly my stance on Pride Parades as well. My mother is currently with a woman, my brother is gay, I'm bi, but goddamn, do I hate Pride Parades.

No one needs homosexuality being forced on them in such a way, in reality or video games.

Like in the Harry Potter series, Dumbledore is gay, but does that have anything at all to do with the events in the series? No. He's just a homosexual, but no where in the books, movies or games is homosexuality shoved down someone's throat.

That's how it should be. None of this, "WE NEEEEEEEED GAYS EVERYWHERE BECAUSE WE'RE ALL EQUAAAALL"

[Talidan]

I've taken, what I believe, is a pretty in-the-middle position, so now I have to ask, with the multiple disagrees, which part do some of you not agree with?

Homosexuals, period? Or that homosexuality shouldn't be forced on players?

[sonic989]

leave the games as they are
no need to talk about the sexual orientation of the characters in the first place just make the games fun to play .
thats what gaming is all about and personally if a game comes out that says HOMOSEXUAL loud and clearly i wont even bother looking at that game .
the same thing with anything related to the sexual orientation i play games for fun
example is DUKE NUKEM ( i wish if i spelled it correctly )
for me at lease it was a horrible game

[stanr]

I have to disagree with his opinion. Despite the stigmatism that gamers are homophobic (all thanks to COD gamers) gaming culture has been a lot more progressive about the depiction of LGBT characters then Hollywood. Example: When everyone was obsessing with how progressive Brokeback Mountain was (because everyone forgot about Midnight Cowboy), gamers were introduced to Colonel Volgin in MGS3. Name one LGBT character in Hollywood that is just as significant or breaks the stereotypical model for LGBT characters.

[DanielGearSolid]

Sounds about right to me...
Would never touch a game with a gay protagonist

Just because the new fad is to support gays doesn't mean everybody has to agree with it

I'm not gonna bash gays, but I'm definitely not gonna support them either

[zeronhero]

Exactly, i dont care about gays getting married, nor do i care what they do in their private life,

the only thing i will do is to NOT getting their way. It Really is non of my business either way.

[JsonHenry]

I don't care about other people's choices when it comes to sexuality. But I gotta say if the main character was a gay man I would be off put by playing as him. Call me bigoted all you want but I'm not the one saying you have to accept and embrace my life choices or else I'm going to call you names. Leave me alone and I'll leave you alone.

[Mexxan]

And that's the sad thing, we're being programmed to have to defend and apologise our basic rights as individuals.

[alexg587]

I was too lazy to read the article and im just going by the title, but i think it would impact sales ,even if its a small margin because no matter how much the world has accepted gays as a whole there will alays be ppl who are straight up against it ....period

[supraking951]

bill in the Last of Us was a great character

[Salooh]

I didn't like it even a bit. The last of us is a masterpiece to me but the dlc doesn't feel right , i'm forgetting that i played it.

[Baccra17]

Stop trying to force gays on people for $60 dollars a pop and focus on things far more important like: well tested games, games that are actually finished BEFORE it's released, innovation, a good story AND ending, a true expansion on a game instead of piece-meal nickle and dime DLC.

I could go on and on, but these things are far better to focus on than trying to force/shove homosexuality on others which will just lead to people pushing back and doing other things you won't like.

[JsonHenry]

I've always found it odd that less than 10% of the world's population always tries to force itself on others. There is certainly an agenda here that permeates everything in media these days.

If it makes sense for the story to have a homosexual front and center then go with it. Because that is part of the story. Much the way that Bill from Last of Us was. They didn't shove it down throat. They didn't spend a lot of time or make a heavy emphasis of the fact. They added it. It made sense. And it had a plot purpose. Or how Mass Effect/Dragon Age let the player decide personally how things would be is another good example how to effectively and meaningfully add another flavor to the game.

But I get the feeling sometimes that these studios, especially in hollywood, are under a lot of pressure to add it in for the simple reason of shoving it down your throat whether you like it or not. Whether it adds to or enhances the story/game/music or not. Because it is part of a personal desire to glorify one lifestyle over another and not because it enhances or belongs in the product you are trying to sell.

[UncleGermrod]

It's a shame that most studios will not take the risk of adding gay characters. Things like this are part of what hold gaming back. In this day and age, with gaming being recognized as an art form more than ever, we need to move past this. Taking sexual orientation into question can add so much complexity to the plot and characters. Why should the gaming community pretend that gay people do not exist?

Not only is it unfair to those gamers who are gay, but it also adds another reason for gaming to be viewed as an immature medium, reserved for machismo cliches.

These companies need to take the risks; in the end it will pay off.

Anyone played TLoU Left Behind DLC? That is one small example of how exploring sexuality in a mature way can have great effects on the depth of a game's story and character development. Thanks for having some balls, ND.

[DanielGearSolid]

Who cares if ppl think games are art?

I'm tired of ppl begging for gaming to be respected in entertainment media... The whole point of a game is to have fun, some critic saying its art or not art doesn't make the game any more or less enjoyable.

[UncleGermrod]

My comment was not really so much about games being "art". And to be fair, they are art, at least in some instances. Again, my main point is that gaming had become more and more grounded in realism, at least as storytelling is concerned, and its just a shame that most tend to ignore this very real issue.

I get what you are saying, but I do not see why people out right disagree with what I have aid, Perhaps you are the immature gamer cliche?

[ABizzel1]

I don't think gay characters are holding back games, but I do think concern for backlash is definitely something that holds games back, because people don't want to see how cruel and evil people can truly be.

When COD shot up an airport, media was up in arms, yet there's been terrorist attacks all over.

When GTA SA had the hot coffee mod, media was up in arms, but how do they think they got here? The stork.

This is one of the reasons I'm thankful for indies and the loss of the need of a big publisher, because creativity has finally lost one of the main pigeon holds it had on it in gaming.

[goldwyncq]

Not including a minority doesn't mean that developers of such a game hates them. I don't understand the logic behind this thinking at all.

[aLucidMind]

I don't see anything wrong with having openly gay characters in a game, however. So long as the character is generally well-done and not stereotypically gay. An example would be Tony from GTA4: BoGT or Steve and Samantha from Mass Effect 3.

None of the three forced the idea of homosexuality on the audience, they were just people who happened to be gay and you could take them seriously. I don't want gay people in games, I want people who happen to be gay in the game if that makes sense. Because the former always seems like it's half-hearted pandering to the LGBT crowd, which is why so many people get annoyed by it.

[Chapter11]

Well, they're still afraid of the not straight-white-American-male-w ith-short-brown-hair-and-grizzl ed-beard in general. This is hardly surprising.

[SilentNegotiator]

Yeah, look at how poorly Last of Us did.
/s

It's 2014. The entertainment industry is brimming with gay people and the media is 99% behind gay marriage; it hasn't stopped people from consuming media yet, so I don't seem why he thinks it would.

[PersonMan]

Joel was gay? Didn't know that.

[SilentNegotiator]

Doesn't really matter if its the main character.

[SteamPowered]

Sir Hammerlock was gay? I just thought he was into hedonism.

[iceman1346]

it won't work for me simple as that

[Ninjamonkey82]

I can't see where the harm would be in a gay main character in a game. I've never been harmed by any ones choice off sexuality.

But then again I'm a 34 year old man and i can see past the kid like reactions to this ;). Hence my response above :D.

What happens in a game should not affect you in real life are Fox news really does have a point don't they :).

I'll leave you with this social experiment that's been carried out by this woman for many years tbh. I think it should be done the world over.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Food for thought on N4G who would have thought it :).

Oh btw this experiment covers much more than just race ;).

[cell989]

to me it would be the same as when DC came up with those comics where Batman was gay

[PersonMan]

I'm sick of people saying "It's 2014, it should be widely accepted by now"...

HELLO! There are still millions of people not comfortable with gay people. I could handle having a gay protagonist, but I obviously can't speak for everyone. One man's opinion is not going to be the same as everyone's opinions.

[hazelamy]

many people still see black people as inferoir to white people, should we respect their beliefs as well?

no, because we know that's wrong, why should we accept the beliefs of bigots?

because they involve some deity?

fuck their deity.

[martinezjesus1993]

Even though I have nothing against gays I believe that having an openly gay character would impact sales. Why? Because most other countries arent as open as the United States are to gays and I believe it would be a turn off to people in those countries, but thats just what I think.

[goldwyncq]

If they're going to add a gay character, I'd rather they go the same route as TLOU did. No need for gratuitous sex scenes and all that.

[ABizzel1]

Sex scenes are pointless in 99% of games and 99% of movies. Unless the content is about sexual relationships, having a baby, or Adult themes there's no need for a sex scene in any game or movie and should be left out.

[ELpork]

Ughh... this comment thread makes my head hurt...

[hazelamy]

i think these comments sections prove that the guy is right.

despite being very progressive, open and forward thinking, the gaming community can still be backwards, regressive and bigoted.

if you have to say "i'm not a bigot, but"

then you're a bloody bigot.

[goldwyncq]

Being uncomfortable playing as a fictional homosexual character does not make anyone a bigot. I'm pretty sure there are homosexuals out there too who would rather not watch heterosexual couples have sex either.

[ABizzel1]

That because there are some people in the gaming community who are mature beyond their years (myself), some who were picked on for being "that gamer kid" who knows how it feels to be isolated, and generally good people (again myself) who've enjoy gaming for years or even decades and want to see the medium evolve.

Then you have trolls, bigots, hypocrites, who are into gaming just for the sport of it, and fill online matches with racial slurs, profanity, sexist and harass against female gamers, and are flatout ignorant in their day to day lives and now flood forums and gaming websites with their ignorance.

As long as the ignorance out-voice the passionate then the medium can't evolve.

[cell989]

as a straight guy, playing a videogame with a gay protagonist would feel a little awkward. Sure gay people wouldnt feel awkward at all, but Im straight so it kind of hits the creepers a little. I still believe people are entitled to do whatever makes them happy, as long as it doesnt affect me in a personal level.

[mochachino]

If done right it could be a "Samus" moment.

Like, if the character was already well established but mysterious. A perfect example would be to reveal that Masterchief is gay. I doubt the Halo series would suffer for it.

[Moncole]

movies, books and shows have gay characters and are successful. Why cant games have them? Devs should make game they want because they want to not way the higher ups want.

[Bdub2000]

I'm not homosexual, nor do I care about your sexual preference. Keep it to yourself and I'll keep my opinion to myself. Why does the sexuality of a game character even have to come in to play?

No I will not buy a game with a homosexual character... Not for any political or religious reason, but because I just don't care.

If it's that big of a deal, then a developer can open a studio for that kind of stuff and the people that want it can buy it... Otherwise, don't force it on the rest of us.

[MisterFantastic]

People really is getting butthurt of this topic lol. What does a character sexual orientation have to do with a game? I swear people act like gay people deserve a award or has super powers.......

[Bdub2000]

LOL... is it too inappropriate to point out that your use of the word "butt hurt" could not have been used in a better article?

[bumnut]

I miss the days when people kept their sexuality and private life.......... private.

Nearly every TV show now has a token gay guy!

[The_Truth_24_7]

And they are correct.
"Ain't nobody got time for that!"