Insomniac Boss on More LGBTQ Representation in Games, Marvel’s Wolverine May be Next

It’s pretty hard for people to hail from a marginalized community, like the LGBTQ, despite widespread awareness. There are still some people in this world who are not ready to face and accept this fact, despite being awake to education and modernity. Be it derogatory and homophobic slangs or being the victim of a discriminative mindset, LGBTQ people have seen it all.

To make the world a better place for all, a lot of initiatives have been taken. Awareness is spread all over the world through movies, music, books, and many more. The gaming fraternity has also taken a part in normalizing the identities outside the binary of man and woman, and we gamers are damn proud of that. Still, it’s just some paltry grains from the huge desert.

LGBTQ Representation in Video Games Is in Very Poor State

Despite the all-round efforts from the industries to make the people of the LGBTQ community stand tall, only 2 percent of the games on major consoles and PCs include queer characters as a whole (as per GLAAD). Mary Kenney, Associate Narrative Director at Insomniac Games, shared her views on the disappointing state of this community with DualShockers:

The GLAAD report tells us something key—games are a way for LGBTQ people to socialize. But it also tells us something heartbreaking: that LGBTQ gamers don’t feel that developers are thinking of them when they design games.

Kenney herself has put in a lot for this community in the world of video games. She has helped create some of the most popular queer characters in games like Clementine and Violet from Telltale’s The Walking Dead.

She feels this needs to be done in a bigger aspect, as she openly admits that this will make LGBTQ people feel they are an important part of the gaming fraternity as well. She also pays tribute to the efforts of the great Danielle Bunten Berry. Berry was a trans woman and a pioneer in the field of game development on the Atari platform, M.U.L.E.

Marvel’s Wolverine To Be There?

Another game besides The Walking Dead will be surfacing queer characters through the hands of Kenney. And this game is the highly anticipated Marvel’s Wolverine. There is huge speculation in the gaming community, that this game might be showcased in today’s State of Play.

Wolverine himself is a queer character, at least in some iterations. So, portraying such a strong character in a huge title like this is surely going to put a lot into changing the mindset of people about the LGBTQ community. Talking about the roles of LGBTQ developers in the gaming industry, this is what Kenney had to say:

There are so many LGBTQ developers, and we want what players want—to design experiences that tell the player we’re here, we’re important, and we belong.

Despite being a bigger stage than the film and music combined, only 2% of games feature LGBTQ characters openly. in comparison with 28% of films released in 2022 and 11% of primetime TV characters in 2022 and 2023 (as per GLAAD). However, as long as people like Kenney exist in the industry, the graph is going to rise, and it’s just a matter of time. 

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