Support NeoGAF

Authority · May 10, 2014

Update

Gary Steinman, a communications manager for Ubisoft, issued a response to the press that Soulban's comments were getting with a statement issued over the weekend. Steinman's statement is buried in the comments section of the original Q&A, so here it is reprinted in full:

Hello, all... We’ve seen several news outlets pick up quotes from this lively interview, with a focus on Lucien’s comment that we might not see a gay protagonist in a triple-A game for a while due to concerns about an impact on sales. We want to clarify that Lucien is speaking from the heart and sharing his own personal perspectives and insights. We’d also like to reiterate that fully committed to exploring characters of all races, creeds and orientations, in both supporting and starring roles. The UbiBlog was built to be a place where the creative minds behind our games can talk directly with you, in an open setting, fostering frank and candid discussions about key issues like this one.

Who is Lucian Soulban

Openly gay Ubisoft Montreal lead writer

How it all begun

The writer of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon believes we won't see an openly homosexual protagonist in a triple-A game for some time out of fears that sales would be hurt. Soulban did acknowledge however that while we may not see a game centered on a gay character for a while, he believes that change is happening little by little.

"We'll definitely see more of them, and I think it's happening quietly," he said. "Look at the choices offered in Mass Effect 2 & 3, or Fable 3, or Dragon Age II or Skyrim, the gay characters in Borderlands 2 who mention it without much fanfare, etc.

"What do you think the odds are that we’ll get a mid-30s stubbly-bearded brown-haired white guy with a raspy voice who is gay as a lead character in a AAA title?" Richard Dansky, the company's "Central Clancy Writer" (yes, that's a thing) asked Lucien Soulban, an openly gay man who's worked on blockbuster shooter franchises like Far Cry and Rainbow Six.

"Not for a while, I suspect, because of fears that it'll impact sales," Soulban responded. In his view, commercial constraints are the chief barrier to diversifying video game characters and stories. At best, what AAA game developers can do now is relegate LGBT characters to supporting roles, or pull a sort of "bait-and-switch" on players like Nintendo famously did when it revealed that Metroid star Samus Aran was actually a woman underneath her suit of power armor. Either that, or what BioWare has done with its Dragon Age and Mass Effect games—let players decide the sexuality of their characters and chalk the decision up to player choice.[/quote]

Credits to Why The Gaming Industry Plans To Keep Gay Characters On The Sidelines, Why we need more gay characters in video games and GAME writers talk about gay protagonists

SolVanderlyn · May 10, 2014

PumpkinSpice · May 10, 2014

AAA games are terrible and kinda dying so I don't see why this matters. How long 'till a popular indie game has a gay lead character?

kuYuri · May 10, 2014

He doesn't have a lead role per say, but apparently Dee-Ay from Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City is gay and is a playable character. There was an article on Polygon about it recently.

His name is supposed to be a play on DA, which stands for "Don't Ask", which itself is short for "Don't ask, don't tell."

http://www.polygon.com/2014/4/18/5612910/resident-evil-operation-raccoon-city-gay-soldier

SolidSnakex · May 10, 2014

Does DLC for a AAA game count?

Stumpokapow · May 10, 2014

SheepyGuy said:
AAA games are terrible and kinda dying so I don't see why this matters. How long 'till a popular indie game has a gay lead character?

Gone Home, which was probably the most critically significant and one of the most successful indie games of last year, had a gay primary character (not the player character, but the most robustly-characterized character in the game) and the plot revolved around issues of tolerance, acceptance, and personal awakening.

Daffy Duck · May 10, 2014

Why does it matter what sexual orientation a video game character is?

Triggerhappytel · May 10, 2014

I was gonna make some sarcastic comment about Ubi only having Caucasian men as protagonists, but to be fair they're one of the more open-minded publishers as they've had a Native American, a black woman and a mixed race woman in some of their starring roles.

jonno394 · May 10, 2014

Gumball said:
Why does it matter what sexual orientation a video game character is?

I was about to ask the same thing.

My saints row iv boss had non hetro kisses and sex.

Air Zombie Meat · May 10, 2014

Gumball said:
Why does it matter what sexual orientation a video game character is?

A good question to ask the people that would refuse to buy a game because of it.

Bright-Light · May 10, 2014

SolidSnakex said:
Does DLC for a AAA game count?

That's what I was gonna say.
I assume we're thinking of the same thing.
But it's impossible to say the name of the character without giving huge spoilers.
If the game gets a sequel, then I think we will see a huge AAA game get a gay lead.

Renta · May 10, 2014

This reminds of a joke theory I read somewhere about Nathan Drake being gay

Edit: Found it. It was Sterling. http://www.destructoid.com/why-nathan-drake-would-make-a-fantastic-homosexual-218743.phtml

Ashodin · May 10, 2014

Stumpokapow said:
Gone Home, which was probably the most critically significant and one of the most successful indie games of last year, had a gay primary character (not the player character, but the most robustly-characterized character in the game) and the plot revolved around issues of tolerance, acceptance, and personal awakening.

The part when you realize this is pretty awesome IMO. Reeks of experimentation of youth which was characterized very well.

Olli128 · May 10, 2014

"Not for a while, I suspect, because of fears that it'll impact sales,"
I dunno, if anything it might boost sales from people glad to see the industry changing and wanting to support it. If sales really would be lowered because a characters gay that's pretty damn sad.

Real Hero · May 10, 2014

Gumball said:
Why does it matter what sexual orientation a video game character is?

Sales

Qblivion · May 10, 2014

Gumball said:
Why does it matter what sexual orientation a video game character is?

I dunno, something about these people wanting to be acknowledged as real, normal humans or something like that.

Newlove · May 10, 2014

I don't think it has to be mentioned what sexual orientation a leading character is in a game, unless it serves the story.

Daffy Duck · May 10, 2014

Air Zombie Meat said:
A good question to ask the people that would refuse to buy a game because of it.

But why would/should it be a thing in the first place?

Why bring sexual preference into a medium it would have very little bearing on.

Red Chocobo · May 10, 2014

Unless it's a dating or relationship game, I don't see why we even need to know about a game character's sexuality.

Deleted member 80556 · May 10, 2014

There are very good ways of making gay characters without actually spelling it out. Unfortunately, I can't give the best example or it would be a spoiler for a certain game.

Wurdfurd · May 10, 2014

Gumball said:
Why does it matter what sexual orientation a video game character is?

This. And to add, how are we to even know what the characters orientation is in some games.

Just an example, Link in TLoZ, maybe hes just a gay dude trying to save Zelda so they can be best friends and gossip and shit. Or maybe he wants to save her to take her to poundtown. Who knows, and frankly, who cares?

Man God · May 10, 2014

There might be dozens or hundreds of gay characters in videogames that no one knows about because the game is about driving or shooting or what have you.

Garrett Hawke · May 10, 2014

But we might soon

Tomb Raider 2. I mean just listen to what the writer was saying about how she felt when she was writing it and she left it very ambiguous as to whether Lara is gay or not.

Pls Square Enix

Real Hero · May 10, 2014

Newlove said:
I don't think it has to be mentioned what sexual orientation a leading character is in a game, unless it serves the story.

Why? Isn't it pretty pathetic that a gay characters gayness would need to be central to the story? Can't a character be gay just cos?

Sai-kun · May 10, 2014

Gumball said:
Why does it matter what sexual orientation a video game character is?

Because it's nice to see myself represented in different forms of media, when living in a world that doesn't really acknowledge your existence?

Painraze · May 10, 2014

Uh... The Last of Us?

SgtCobra · May 10, 2014

^
Please spoiler that shit, fuck.

Qblivion said:
I dunno, something about these people wanting to be acknowledged as real, normal humans or something like that.

And a gay lead character for a videogame will do that?

Garrett Hawke · May 10, 2014

Bright-Light said:
That's what I was gonna say.
I assume we're thinking of the same thing.
But it's impossible to say the name of the character without giving huge spoilers.
If the game gets a sequel, then I think we will see a huge AAA game get a gay lead.

That would be absolutely incredible. I would feel so proud of

ND and Sony

if they did that.

kazebyaka · May 10, 2014

Just don't go making gay characters just because you want them to be gay

Higgins113 · May 10, 2014

Qblivion said:
I dunno, something about these people wanting to be acknowledged as real, normal humans or something like that.

Acknowledged by a video game?

dalin80 · May 10, 2014

There are a lot of 'AAA' characters who never express there sexual orientation one way or the other, it's a bit off just to presume they are all straight just becuase they never break out in the Big Gay Al song.

Malreyn · May 10, 2014

Wasn't Fear Effect about a protagonist that was gay?....It CAN and HAS worked.

GhostTrick · May 10, 2014

Eh to be fair, in a lot of triple-A titles, the sexuality of the main character isn't even mentionned...

Deleted member 80556 · May 10, 2014

Real Hero said:
Why? Isn't it pretty pathetic that a gay characters gayness would need to be central to the story? Can't a character be gay just cos?

It doesn't have to be central to the story.

Why should a character be gay just because anyway?

Garrett Hawke · May 10, 2014

SgtCobra said:
And a gay lead character for a videogame will do that?

Yes. If straight people are represented in video games, why shouldn't gay people be too?

Opinions are formed and molded by the media we consume. If we're seeing a lot more gay people in non-token/ridiculous roles, it'll go a long way towards making them seem "normal?

Hades Hotgun · May 10, 2014

Gumball said:
Why does it matter what sexual orientation a video game character is?

It wouldn't, if every major character didn't have the same orientation,

Qblivion · May 10, 2014

SgtCobra said:
And a gay lead character for a videogame will do that?

Higgins113 said:
Acknowledged by a video game?

Video games are an artistic medium, which means they are a reflection of our culture and society, so yes?

velociraptor · May 10, 2014

I don't see why this is important.

Garrett Hawke · May 10, 2014

Juan29.zapata said:
It doesn't have to be central to the story.

Why should a character be gay just because anyway?

A character should be gay "just because" people are gay in real life.

It's not like people only become gay because of some massive life-changing event, or them being gay makes everything in their lives about being gay.

Garrett Hawke · May 10, 2014

velociraptor said:
I don't see why this is important.

Are you straight?
It's important because it will go a LONG way in changing perceptions towards the LGBT community. It's important because it shows that your protagonist doesn't have to be a white, straight male that looks like Nathan Drake. It's important because it promotes inclusion and understanding.

twobear · May 10, 2014

I completely agree with him and I don't really see why it needed clarification from Ubisoft.

Something like Chris Redfield, where it's implied/hinted at through non-canon stuff is the closest we're gonna get for a very long time, except for RPGs where you get to pick for yourself.

Qblivion · May 10, 2014

velociraptor said:
I don't see why this is important.

Of course you don't. Probably because you have never been marginalized because of who you are.

This is what we in the industry call "privilege"

TheLostBigBoss · May 10, 2014

Gumball said:
Why does it matter what sexual orientation a video game character is?

It doesn't.

But it does.

I've gotten in many arguments about a main character being gay.

The logic of people arguing against having a character being gay is "It doesn't matter if they're gay or straight, but why are they making the character gay? I just don't see the point of making the character gay."

They use the argument of it not mattering it spin it to make the character straight because they connect making a character gay with people pushing an agenda and going against their personal (horribly outdated) sense of moral guidance.

It's simply moving the goalpost. It's no longer "in" to bash gays, so the next best thing is to pretend you accept people being gay, while heavily pushing that the topic is never brought up in any manner.

Daffy Duck · May 10, 2014

So how do you apply this to AAA games?

Do you make the next CoD lead gay, and the entire game is him fighting for his rights to serve? Going into courtrooms, papers etc?

I just don't see how this could work in any way to be beneficial.

Real Hero · May 10, 2014

Juan29.zapata said:
Why should a character be gay just because anyway?

Because people are?

Sai-kun · May 10, 2014

godelsmetric said:
I completely agree with him and I don't really see why it needed clarification from Ubisoft.

Something like Chris Redfield, where it's implied/hinted at through non-canon stuff is the closest we're gonna get for a very long time, except for RPGs where you get to pick for yourself.

I don't think it needed clarification either, but I'm sure some people who are looking for a fight would see what he said as "omg ubisoft is anti gay they're never gonna make a game with lbgt people in it!!!" or some stupid shit like that.

Gumball said:
So how do you apply this to AAA games?

Do you make the next CoD lead gay, and the entire game is him fighting for his rights to serve? Going into courtrooms papers etc?

I just don't see how this could work in any way to be beneficial.

It doesn't have to benefit you, and the bolded is a little mean, I think. Something as simple as having the character talk to his/her partner back home would be cool, in my eyes.

SephCast · May 10, 2014

Once again, Kojima is ahead of the curve with a Bisexual villain.

Not to mention integrating Transsexuals into MGSV....

Air Zombie Meat · May 10, 2014

Gumball said:
But why would/should it be a thing in the first place?

Why bring sexual preference into a medium it would have very little bearing on.

Well it wouldn't be part of the gameplay but the character and story. It's not like theres never any heterosexual relationships in games.

pixlexic · May 10, 2014

mass effect and dragon age doesn't count?

TheFurizzlyBear · May 10, 2014

I can't recall many AAA games where they call out the sexuality of the main character if he/she is predefined. Who are you to say Soap McTavish from CoD is not gay? I don't think this is a non-issue overall but I think the industry needs to focus on its culture internally and we will see the results externally.

Support NeoGAF

Gay community - "Why you will not see a gay lead character in a triple-A title".

Banned

Thanos acquires the fully powered Infinity Gauntlet in The Avengers: Infinity War, but loses when all the superheroes team up together to stop him.

Banned

Member

Member

listen to the mad man

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member

Member

Non-Canon Member

Member

Member

Banned

Unconfirmed Member

Member

Member

Banned

Banned

Banned

Member

Banned

Deleted member 80556

Unconfirmed Member

Member

Banned

Member

Junior Member

Member

Member

sputum-flecked apoplexy

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Banned

Brotherhood of Shipley's

Member

Banned

Member

Similar threads