Ultimate Gay Fighter isn’t some sort of cruel joke on the LGBT community. What could be construed as a satirical work attacking a single sect of people is actually a bold 2D beat ‘em up for mobile devices lovingly developed by Michael Patrick. Patrick is a gay man who was inspired by the vibrant New York City community, and after joking with his about making the first gay video game, he decided to move forward with the project in a unique way.
"It's not meant to be hateful," Patrick told VG247 in an extended interview. "If you allow yourself to make fun of a stereotype in a way that isn't cruel, I think you diminish the power of that stereotype. I'm gay, and although I'm not a stereotype, I have stereotypical traits. Why not laugh at that and enjoy it?”
It’s lighthearted, but homosexuality is a fragile topic that can quickly spiral out of control – especially in the world of video games. It’s still a new medium, and that makes this uncharted territory.
"My game is a whole new thing. When you have gays in a new kind of media, without any kind of background or precedent, I think people's initial reaction is: who did this? Where is this coming from?" Patrick said. "I think somewhere in that the positive message might have got a little lost."
You can expect to take control of characters like gym bunny Gogo Gary, drag queen Carrie Cupcake, and ‘no-nonsense lesbian’ Sappho Ethridge later this month.
