Do video game characters’ sexualities matter?

Romance is a massively important part of roleplaying games (RPGs). Players’ desire to connect with their favourite characters cannot be underestimated, and romance has become an exponentially popular feature of RPGs ever since its inception. Games with subpar romance options or side quests often receive backlash from disappointed gamers. Depending on the setting and tone, an RPG without romance options is arguably missing an essential feature of the immersive experience.

The days of gaming demographics being restricted to heterosexual men are over. People of all identities and sexualities play video games, and their interests are being catered to by RPG developers. These developers recognise that LGBTQIA+ gamers can form particularly loyal fanbases that extend a game’s lifespan through fanfiction, fanart, streaming, and other forms of media.

Bethesda Game Studios has typically taken the approach of making video game characters ‘player-sexual,’ meaning that no matter what gender the player character is or what they look like, the romanceable NPCs will be attracted to them. In Skyrim, for example, players can choose any romance option regardless of the NPC’s gender, which of course means that same-sex relationships are possible and treated no differently than straight relationships.

Other developers take different approaches. CD Projekt Red chose to define their NPCs’ sexualities more clearly. In Cyberpunk 2077, the main protagonist that players play as is V, an alias for Valerie/Vincent. The male V only has two romance options available: Panam Palmer or Kerry Eurodyne. Female V can only romance Judy Alvarez or River Ward. That means a straight V only has two options to choose from, as does gay V. While the limited choices are disappointing, and there are lots of characters that would have been amazing romance options in the game, the pursuable NPCs are at least fleshed out and have good side quests.

BioWare addressed the issue similarly in Dragon Age: Inquisition. The player is only able to romance Dorian Pavus as a male Inquisitor and sadly, homophobia is a key part of the character’s backstory. This is different to the other games mentioned previously, which avoid any kind of homophobia when it comes to the NPC backstories or the player’s chosen romance option. Another character, Sera, will only agree to romance a female Inquisitor. The game features four straight characters and two bisexual characters. All the potential relationships in the game were handled sensitively and given enough care to make them some of the most immersive and emotional portrayals of video game romance in history.

Video game characters don’t have feelings

Naturally, some players are disheartened to find that their favourite NPC isn’t a romance option due to their programmed sexuality. This has led the gaming community to create mods where male player characters (PCs) can romance lesbian characters, or female PCs can romance gay male characters. It sounds like a great solution, but something about it feels very off. Should we respect the sexualities of video game characters, even if they’re just ‘pixels on a screen’?

Many people argue that it doesn’t matter, and it has no bearing on real life. Video game characters don’t have feelings, and people do far worse things within the game (e.g., murder, torture, and robbery) than bypassing its code to romance their favourite character. They insist that they wouldn’t treat someone like that in the real world.

Others disagree and believe that anyone who disrespects a video game character’s boundaries is more likely to do so in real life. They argue that the kind of people who insist on being able to romance Judy Alvarez as Male V, are the same people who would tell a real lesbian woman that she just needs to ‘try’ being with a guy.

It’s a touchy subject and both sides have their merits. However, I’m more inclined to agree that we should respect the sexualities of video game characters, even if they’re not real. If we feel so moved as to want to enter romantic relationships with these characters, we should also be moved by their experiences with homophobia, or their clearly defined boundaries when it comes to their attraction, which in turn informs their backstory and characterisation.

Many important life lessons can be learned from video games, and one of them is that no matter how much you want to pursue someone, they may simply not find you, or anyone of your gender, attractive. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, but a necessary one, and may serve to help players take rejections more gracefully in real life, as well as respect people’s boundaries when it comes to their sexuality.