Telling authentic queer stories through games

Games are opportunities to step into other lives and worlds, to connect with one another and learn more about ourselves. Telling stories with representative and relatable characters that resonate with players can foster a sense of belonging and a place where audiences can find their community. When creating these stories, drawing on lived experience can help to ensure they are authentic and inclusive.

At a panel discussion hosted by Jasmin Sangha of Allied Global Marketing, actor and 2024 BAFTA Breakthrough Jennifer English (Baldur’s Gate 3) and BAFTA’s Head of Games Luke Hebblethwaite chatted about how the games industry is telling authentic queer stories. Reflecting on the games that stand out to them as representative of the queer community and the importance of a representative team at all stages of production to tell queer stories with a truly authentic voice.

Over time there has been changes in how identity is explored in games. Hebblethwaite says he has seen “an increase in stories that represent LGBTQ+ people. We have two worlds of that: [there’s] the date anyone, player-sexual sort of games where you can explore what fits for you the best, but they are a different thing to authored, authentic LGBTQ+ stories within games, we see relatively few of those.”

The first type, life simulation games like The Sims are how some members of the queer community explored their identity while growing up. English says it was the first game that made her feel seen as a queer person: “I’m a gay millennial, so of course it was The Sims.”

Hebblethwaite adds, that as platforms to explore identities, games like “The Sims can’t be underestimated… Games where people were suddenly able to explore different kinds of relationships within a safe environment… these are important moments where people get to explore and that’s one of the unique things about games versus linear drama, it’s the chance for you to be part of it.”

In recent years, there has started to be a shift in game narratives, with games creators harnessing the power of storytelling to spotlight canonically queer characters, such as Ellie in The Last of Us and Judy in Cyberpunk. Meanwhile, games like Baldur’s Gate 3, which won five BAFTAs at the 2024 Games Awards, embrace characters who date anyone regardless of gender, and allow players to customise their character’s pronouns, body type, voice etc.

As the voice of Baldur’s Gate 3’s companion Shadowheart, English describes the game as “a wonderful breakthrough project to be a part of.” She recalls, “when we were working on Baldur’s Gate 3 and Larian decided to re-record all the interactions with the player to include they/them pronouns… we were very proud.”

Hebblethwaite describes Baldur’s Gate 3’s recent award wins as a “seismic moment in the industry. Adding: “It’s a tremendous achievement for the breadth and the depth of the storytelling within [Baldur’s Gate 3], that you can explore these characters in all sort of different ways and the game rewards you for it… The level of attention that’s put into the narrative… is an incredible endeavour.”

Game fandoms are becoming increasingly popular, in part due to the sense of connection players feel when seeing characters represent their identity on the screen. English has experienced the impact of this personally, receiving “letters from all over the world saying thank you… That has been massive, knowing we have that impact just by existing, let alone being in games that have that actual representation throughout.”

Hebblethwaite says: “when people see themselves represented in something, they’re going to engage with it. Where you can connect with people, you can connect with a believable script with well-written characters, that’s where it works. It’s about people wanting human stories that they can connect with.”

As well as feeling represented by LGBTQ+ stories, seeing queer actors performing in games can be a huge source of inspiration for the queer community. The Head of BAFTA Games adds: “Having performers who are out and much more visible than they’ve ever been is an important part of being advocates for the sector.”

When telling authentic queer stories, English feels it is important for the queer community to see queer characters played by queer actors. “The way I describe it is when you hear your mum on the phone and you can tell within seconds who she is speaking to. You know who it is, that is authenticity, a believable interaction between your mum and her sister or the neighbour… The more authentic, the more real, the more truthful the performance is, the more we buy into it.”

It’s also just as important for the creative talent behind a game to be representative. English adds: “We were really lucky that there were a lot of queer creatives on [Baldur’s Gate 3] as well… It is having representation on all levels, we’re talking intersectional, please… that is so important as well.”

The future of gaming will be determined by the next generation of game developers, who are already creating games as an outlet to voice their own feelings and perspectives. Young people are finding ways to reflect their identity and issues that matter to them through games. For example this is seen in the entrants of BAFTA’s Young Game Designers competition, which gives the opportunity to young people aged 10-18 to create their own game or game concept and is judged by industry experts. Hebblethwaite reflects: “every year, the games that they create explore such a breadth of topics and they talk about identity. They talk about their lives through this medium, it’s native to them.”

So what next? Will the games industry continue to embrace the power of storytelling going forward? Hebblethwaite hopes so: “[Games are] capable of wonderful technological things but [also] wonderful narrative things. What I hope for the future as we continue to push down this path is we create more opportunity for people to tell the stories they want to tell. Whether they’re queer stories, or representative of your community, your part of the world, that’s where we want to get to.”

English is similarly hopeful: “I want to see people making games that represent the people playing them. I’m talking at the top levels not just engineers. I want to see that, and I want to work with those people. Make games for everyone by everyone.”

This discussion summary was taken from AGM’s Queer Signals: How Fandoms become Forecasts event in partnership with 2K. This event is part of AGM’s Gaming Futures series, spotlighting specific communities across gaming through data led understanding of fandoms. Allied Global Marketing is a full-service integrated marketing agency working with the world’s largest entertainment, Gaming, and lifestyle brands.