Lucien Soulban, Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon writer, has been asked his opinion on gay protagonists in triple-a games in a new interview posted on the official Ubisoft blog. In the surprisingly candid interview, Soulban states that he doesn’t think an explicitly gay protagonist (as opposed to a protagonist with player-determined sexuality in Mass Effect and Dragon Age) will happen for awhile for fears that it will bear a negative impact on sales.
Asked when we could expect to see a gay hero in a triple-a game. Soulban replied, “Oh boy. I think the real question is, When are going to get a gay/lesbian AAA hero(ine) who isn’t a one-off joke? You look at Javier Bardem in Skyfall, his character’s sexuality was total shtick to satisfy one scene. Otherwise, he was a narcissist with mommy issues, and a pedophile to boot.
“His ‘seduction’ of Bond was nothing more than vanity because Bond was his reflection, the new ‘him.’ Yay. So it bothers me when I hear people using his performance as a benchmark for diversity in entertainment, and I have heard it being bandied about.
“So when are we going to see that gay protagonist in a AAA game? Not for a while, I suspect, because of fears that it’ll impact sales. So either we’ll see a bait-and-switch like the original Metroid with Samus Aran where we’ll find out damn near after the fact (PS: And Dumbledore was gay), or it’ll come out of left field with Rockstar, Valve, Naughty Dog or Telltale, perhaps. But when it happens, I hope it’s a serious take on it and not played up for jokes.”
Soulban notes that the quiet progression flagged by relationship choices in games like Mass Effect and Skyrim is a positive step in bringing gay characters to video games. “Videogames have stopped ‘announcing’ gay characters,” he said. “They’re introducing them without much fanfare in an effort to say, Yeah, it’s there and pretty normal. Call it: We’re here, we’re queer, and we’re busy working.”