Welcome to 2012: EA defends itself against thousands of anti-gay letters

Posted by bram on April 6, 2012 03:25 am 4

Original article: EA defends itself against thousands of anti-gay letters

Quote:
EA has been inundated in recent weeks with what GamesIndustry International understands to be "several thousand" letters and emails protesting the inclusion of same sex or LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) content in its video games, most notably Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

A picture of (actually not my) Femshep making out with the female (?) Liara (via images.eurogamer.net)

I guess ME3 Ending-gate isn't the only controversy EA is facing right now. EA might currently be the 'worst' American company and are indeed ethically challenged when it comes to sales tactics, but they also get things right: EA is standing up for same sex relationships in games despite outrage from some.

First of all, I'm really baffled that EA actually received a substantial amount of this 'hate mail', although I actually can't be surprised, considering gay rights (or 'human rights' as I like to call them) or gay acceptance worldwide haven't really been secured for a long shot.

It's even more ironic if you consider the nature of these games (for those obliviously unaware): these aren't some free 'gay' Facebook games, these are mature action games, generally violent, involving killing or hurting (innocent) people and in which, for role-playing sake, you can (also) engage a same sex relationship. On top of that, these games include sexual content period. You can play these games as a completely postal nutcase or at least as a total jerk with no sense of honor, but the openly gay characters are really what's ticking them off?

I know these letter writers probably are some dinosaurs and a minority, but it's also important to stay vigilant. Right now I'm really glad EA is openly making a stance against this nonsense, but I really do hope no major retailer will jump the anti-gay (or 'non-controversial') bandwagon and start boycotting EA games, otherwise EA might have to rethink it's strategy here.

You may not care about gay content in video games, but these people are actually touching the medium we love. In some ways, the gaming industry is miles ahead of other entertainment industries and for me that's something to treasure.