(I don't like you Raz, I think you talk too much, etc,) [you] pretend like you know the intentions of the developers, when you just don’t. There have been gay and LGBT people making your games since the dawn of gaming - and for the first time, throwing in a couple gay characters just because they want to is actually permitted. There is nothing special about the gay characters; they’re just gay. In case you didn’t know, some people are like that.
Well actually if you read my post you would see that I'm not
entirely certain as to their intentions. I do believe that they do this for PR reasons, to shine a divine light on themselves- but do they engage in this behavior out of sincere conviction or is it all a cynical stunt? I am not sure.
This isn't about the existence of homosexuals and their role in the gaming industry, actually. Not for me. Sqorin Hammerfarf has outlined the problem fairly succinctly and I would defer to his already posted arguments as to why this situation is irritating to some. The only area wherein we disagree seems to be his certainty that the developers are true believers, wherein I'm a bit more divided as to the sincerity of their broadcasted convictions. I am concluded however on the longevity of their beliefs should they conflict with profit. I refer to Google aiding China as exhibit A as to why progressive beliefs and stated goals like "Don't Be Evil" will be, and are, sacrificed upon the alter of the almighty bottom line. There is no god, creed, or belief mightier than the dollar to a corporation.
That's why when they trot out their beliefs and showcase (or push them on others, censor those they disagree with, etc) and ask me to believe in their sincerity, I laugh and go "lie to me again". I can respect people who disagree with me provided I'm sure of their integrity.
Challenging "assumptions" is not very brave in 2019, and really I never found it super convincing anyway given that the 'assumption' that an individual is heterosexual is the statistically safe choice to make. It will always be the default assumption given the necessarily vast differences between heterosexual and homosexual populations. We, as humans, need assumptions in order to function properly. It's a heuristic, and the alternative is an overly laborious, time consuming, analysis of every decision we choose to make. To wit, our brains evolved to make assumptions in order to expedite decision making for survival reasons.
That said, I don't have a beef with gay characters portrayed in media. In this case though one must ask, as Sqorin Hammerfarf does, 'why?', because the context matters. A Battle Royale game with no plot does not require any of the characters to have a stated sexuality, as they're all faceless killers with modicums of personality in a game that has basically zero story. If anything, I'm annoyed at the use of homosexual people as two dimensional props serving as PR lightning rods. And I'm exasperated by people who constantly fall for it.
So that's why some of us roll our eyes at this stuff.