Nearly one in five gamers are LGBTQ+.
According to the first GLAAD Gaming Report - the organisation that champions sexual orientation inclusivity in entertainment media - around 17 per cent of gamers are members of the LGBTQ+ community, with the majority being under the age of 35.
In a statement, the associate director of gaming at GLAAD Blair Durkee said: “We believe that LGBTQ inclusion benefits both the video game industry and Community.
”As this report shows, the presence of LGBTQ characters or storylines doesn't meaningfully deter non-LGBTQ people from buying or playing games, but it makes a huge difference to LGBTQ gamers.
"Despite the significant progress we've seen, gaming remains woefully behind other forms of entertainment media when it comes to representation.”
The report also found that only two per cent of titles on Xbox and PlayStation included characters that were part of the LGBTQ+ community, and 2.5 per cent on Steam, dropping to just 1.7 per cent once adult-only games are excluded.
According to the report, roughly 72 per cent of LGBTQ+ gamers said that seeing a character that matched their sexual orientation or gender identity boosted their self confidence, with a further 68 per cent wishing there were more prominent LGBTQ+ storylines in the games they played, like ‘The Last of Us Part II’ and ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’.
