Tech giant Microsoft has announced a long-term partnership with woke advocacy group GLAAD, aiming to increase the representation of LGBT characters in its first-party Xbox games.
Game Developer reports that Microsoft has announced a long-term partnership with media advocacy group GLAAD with the goal of increasing the representation of LGBT characters in its first-party Xbox games.
“Microsoft is making an active effort to increase queer representation in video games,” said a spokesperson for the tech giant. The partnership will involve Xbox Games Studios Publishing collaborating with GLAAD, amplifying existing resources through workshops and consulting to bring “genuine, heartfelt, and aspirational LGBTQIA+ representation.”
The decision aims to promote the portrayal of queer characters, particularly in triple-A, high-budget games. Xbox does not currently have a flagship franchise with queer characters, unlike its rival PlayStation, with series like The Last of Us and the Horizon series containing LGBTQ characters.
“Allying with GLAAD will bring more LGBTQIA+ stories, characters and lived experiences to Xbox in ways that will resonate with gamers around the world,” said Xbox’s marketing chief Pav Bhardwaj. The partnership also includes Xbox’s partner studios and other developers in their community, underlining Microsoft’s commitment to queer audiences.
Since they collaborated on the 2020 game Tell Me Why, which was the first triple-A game to have a transgender main character, Microsoft is the only console manufacturer to work with GLAAD.
Bhardwaj acknowledged the difficulty of defining “representation,” calling it a “vast and multifaceted” concept that can mean different things to different people. Speaking on behalf of Xbox, he said it meant “empowering our LGBTQIA+ team members to create the kinds of change they’re hoping to see in our games and in the industry at large.”
During Pride month, Microsoft will highlight queer-specific game collections in addition to increasing the representation of queers in video games. These collections will feature games with queer protagonists, queer developers, or gender-inclusive gameplay options.
Read more at Game Developer here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan