I Don’t Consider Myself A Gamer

But I do like playing 0AD, it is kind of like the gane “The Age of Empires” so I only know what the world of the Gamers are like from reading.

1 in 5 active gamers identify as LGBTQ, but community is underrepresented in video games: report
The Hill
BY TARA SUTER
February 13, 2024

Despite LGBTQ people making up nearly one-fifth of all active gamers in the U.S., only 2 percent of all video games have LGBTQ storylines or characters, according to a new report from GLAAD.

“We are nearly invisible in game representations despite being a significant percentage of gamers,” Sarah Kate Ellis, the president and CEO of GLAAD, said in the report.

Other findings in the report include 72 percent of LGBTQ gamers saying that seeing characters with the same sexual orientation or gender identity “represented well makes them feel better about themselves,” with the percentage being higher among younger age groups, at 78 percent for those ages 13 to 17.

The report also noted that 68 percent of LGBTQ gamers “wish there were more prominent LGBTQ storylines in games.”

But are we the only community that is under represented?

Diversity in video games: the best (and worst) examples of representation
In order for video games to be more representative, the industry itself needs to be more diverse
The Standard
By Jack Webb, Rachael Davies,Vicky Jessop
5 December 2023

Over the past few years, every industry has become more aware of the responsibility to improve diversity within its ranks, from race and ethnicity to gender and sexuality. For some areas, like gaming, this doesn’t just include who companies hire, but also who appears in the content that they create.

Though the industry is typically described as white and male-dominated, that’s certainly less true than it used to be. Statistics released by industry body Ukie revealed that in 2021, roughly 50 per cent of UK gamers were women; inside the industry itself, 28 per cent of workers are female and 10 per cent are from an ethnically diverse background. Not great, but certainly better than it used to be.

[…]

However, in the 100 top-selling and major games released between 2017 and 2021, nearly 80 per cent of all main characters are men, while nearly 55 per cent are white.

It seems to me the problem is a lot greater than lack LGBTQ+ representation. As the PBS Independent Lens wrote,

Some may be surprised to learn that the most-active gameplaying demographic is African American teenagers: A 2015 study showed that 83% of non-Hispanic Black teenagers play video games, compared to 71% of Caucasian teenagers, with 69% of Hispanic teens not too far behind. With the high percentage of teens of color playing games, representation is incredibly important but has — at least historically — been lacking.

And some how I don’t think the lack of minorities and especially us will be remedied in the near future.