The case in summary: Marte Gundersen, a 25-year-old photography student and gamer, believes it has become easier to be queer in video games. • She points out that there has been a positive development in the representation of queers in video games, with more games allowing same-sex romantic relationships. She also experiences less sexualisation of female characters.• Joakim Johansen Østby, who has researched diversity and inclusion of queers in computer games, confirms that there has been a movement towards more diversity in video games. • Marte points out, however, that it is still possible to avoid queer characters in games, which she believes reduces real diversity.• Østby agrees, and believes that this removes responsibility from game producers and communicates that queer content is not as important.• Despite improvements, there are still challenges with harassment and threats against queers in the gaming environment. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – A large proportion of the world’s population are gamers, and many of them are queer, says Marte Gundersen. It must be thought about when video games are made, believes the 25-year-old photography student. She has played a lot of video games, and her journey started in the girls’ room with the computer game The Sims when she was eleven. FRIENDS: Marte often games several times a week, and she does so with her regular gang. Photo: Privat Then you could either be a male or female character. The boyfriend had to be of the opposite sex. – You didn’t see anyone who was queer in the games before. It was not possible. The women were, according to Marte, very sexualised. The men, on the other hand, were strong and macho, and often wore armor. This has become a change in recent years in a number of video games. FAITHFUL: The cat Finn always lies next to Marte when she plays video games. Photo: Privat A safe-space Marte is happy that her character can have romantic relationships with someone of the same sex in several video games. Clothes can also be changed, which gives greater opportunities to express yourself. – In several new games and editions, women are less sexualized than before. Marte is queer herself, and is very proud of it. There are also several of those she plays with. PROUD: Marte is proud to be queer. She wants even more queer representation in video games. Photo: Private They think it’s nice to be more represented in the games. – It makes it more harmless and you feel more at home, she says and adds: – It creates a bigger safe space. She and several others in the gang feel more accepted in the gaming world than before. An important step for many Joakim Johansen Østby has just completed a study on diversity and inclusion of queers in computer games, at the University of Oslo. CHANGED: Researcher Joakim Østby believes that there has been less stereotypical treatment of queers in the newer computer games. Photo: Elisabeth Brinch Sand – There has been a clear movement towards more diversity, he says. The queer characters who previously had smaller roles have now been given a bigger place in several of the games. In some games, there are also gays and trans people in the main roles. In the popular game “The Last of Us part 2”, which was released in 2020, the main character is a lesbian. SKEIV: In the popular game “The Last of Us part 2”, the main role is lesbian, which researcher Østby believes is a step in the direction of a more diverse gaming culture. It has been an important step for many of the queer gamers Østby interviewed for his research project. – More people feel more included, and they think it’s nice to recognize themselves in the video game. Marte is happy about this development. She thinks it is important that the games do not base the stories and characters solely on gender. – It is important to challenge the gaming world a little. She thinks it’s time to make being queer harmless. Both in real life and in the game world. – There is little real diversity Marte feels she can be herself in the new games. Nevertheless, it is easy to round them without a trace of queerness, she believes. – You might as well avoid interacting with queer characters because of your own personal choices, she says. If you choose a main character who isn’t queer, there won’t be any queers in the game either. Researcher Østby believes that this removes responsibility from game producers. – It will be possible to reject and ignore the content if you don’t like it, or don’t want to deal with it, he says. He believes it communicates that the queer content is not considered as important as the other content in the game. – There will be little real diversity of optional content as the main strategy for queer representation. A little about the research of Joakim Østby Joakim Johansen Østby is senior lecturer at the Department of Media and Communication at the University of Oslo. He has led the research project Queer game developers and players, which ended in September 2023. The project has investigated how queer Norwegian game developers and queer young players experience computer games, game development and game culture. The aim of the project has been, among other things, to investigate the opportunities and challenges queer players face in game content and game culture. The project wanted to contribute relevant information to the Government’s computer game strategy. Source: University of Oslo The back of the medal There is still a long way to go before queers can feel completely safe and welcome in the gaming world, says gamer Marte. She mentions several dark sides of being queer in the gaming environment. – There is a lot of harassment, sexualization and death threats. It’s absolutely awesome. But every time she discovers a new queer character there are cheers. It is one small step closer to the game world becoming a place where everyone can feel welcome. Hey you! Do you have thoughts on this matter, or input on other things I should check out? Feel free to send me an email!
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More queer characters in video games and gaming – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
