5 games that are inclusive toward the LGBTQ+ community

June is Pride month and gamers are glad to be seeing more LGBTQ+ representation in the games they love to play.

In the past, there were very few video games that highlighted LGBTQ+ themes, characters, or storylines. However, over the past few years, gamers have asked for these things, and developers have made their games more inclusive.

Here are five LGBTQ+ games that gamers can play to celebrate Pride all year long.

Stardew Valley

The creator of Stardew Valley, Eric Barone, is a strong LGBTQ+ supporter, and it shows in his game.

Players can marry any eligible character, regardless of gender. Although it is true that the game is missing parts of the community, such as people who identify as nonbinary, it is good to see developers who aren’t fearful of putting same-sex relationships in the game.

In an interview with metadoorreview.com, Barone spoke about his decision to put same-sex relationships into the game.

“Ultimately, the people who buy our games have the power to shape the industry by choosing where to spend their money. If games that allow same sex relationships do well financially, that sends a message to the content creators. I like to think that the success of Stardew Valley will cause other developers to consider designing more inclusive relationship options in their games,” Barone said.

Considering Stardew Valley gets regular updates, a future update with more inclusive options such as being able to create a nonbinary character might be something Barone adds, although there has been no mention of it yet. For now, players can choose any hairstyle and any combination of clothes in character creation.

The Sims 4

The Sims franchise has been around for a very long time, and there have always been ways for a players’ sim to enter into a same-sex relationship, although the way the game has treated those relationships has changed over the years.

In the original game, sims could be “joined,” and if there are enough romantic interactions in a row, they get a phone call asking if they would like to adopt a child. In The Sims 4, all adult sims can adopt by using a phone or computer.

Although players are still tasked with choosing a gender for their sim, in 2016, The Sims 4 added a “customize gender” button in Create-A-Sim which allows players to choose custom gender settings, such as how masculine or feminine their frame looks, or whether the sim is allowed to become pregnant.

Life is Strange

The Life is Strange franchise has quite a few LGBTQ+ themes in its story. Before the Storm features an openly queer character in Stephanie Gingrich, and the game as a whole has a plethora of options when it comes to exploring romantic relationships.

There also are other characters who have romantic encounters in the game, but the story does leave some things up to the imagination. The relationships between each of the characters can come with an undertone of romance without the game developers putting it at the forefront.

This practice leaves a lot to interpretation. A discussion on the Life is Strange wiki page centers around Chloe’s sexuality. Some think she is a lesbian, some think she is bi, and there is also an argument that she is straight.

Fans suspect that there will be more concrete LGBTQ+ themes in the newest addition to the game, which was just announced during the Square Enix Presents showcase at E3.

Read more: The best games and announcements from E3 2021

2064: Read Only Memories

2015 saw the release of 2064: Read Only Memories, which features a ton of LGBTQ+ themes.

This cyberpunk-themed puzzle game explores the future of Neo-San Francisco. There are plenty of queer characters to be found in the game, and players can pick their own pronouns.

The pronouns aren’t just he/she, either. She, he, they, xe, ze and a custom option are available for players to choose exactly how they’d like to identify themselves.

Image courtesy of MidBoss

Not only are the chosen pronouns displayed in text, but they are also fully voiced for each option. Although a player’s pronoun doesn’t affect any part of the story or how other characters in the game treat them, the choice is a small yet effective way to make sure all gamers feel included.

Overwatch

Although the lore of Overwatch is sometimes hard to come by, especially recently due to the development of Overwatch 2, there are several characters who have been confirmed queer.

Lena Oxton, who is better known as Tracer, is the game’s leading lady, and also a lesbian. Tracer is the first Overwatch hero to have her sexuality revealed in one of the comics called Reflections. A sweet scene of Tracer giving her girlfriend Emily a gift is what got fans wondering whether she was bisexual or a lesbian, and it was later confirmed on Twitter by Blizzard that Tracer identifies as a lesbian.

Image courtesy of Blizzard

Fans were also surprised to learn that Soldier: 76 was in a homosexual relationship after Blizzard released a lore story by Michael Chu called Bastet. In the story, Ana and Soldier:76 are reminiscing over pictures. She finds one of him with his arm wrapped around a man named Vincent.

In the paragraphs that follow, it’s clear that he and Vincent were in a romantic relationship, especially after Ana asks if he is “still keeping a candle lit” for him.

Other LGBTQ+ friendly games

Games like Guild Wars 2, The Last of Us, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Borderlands all have characters who identify as queer.

Video games are often an artistic expression of society at any given time. When gamers keep buying games with LGBTQ+ themes, they are telling developers that they want representation in their games, and with more and more games coming out with these themes, it seems they’ve started listening.

Lead image credit: EA