Discussion on question by ND523: Will the inclusion of LGBT characters in my game detract from possible sales?

As a queer game developer, this question puts me a bit on edge. "Pushing the gay agenda" is a phrase implying that for people like me, just visibly existing in the world constitutes an "agenda." That having exclusively straight relationships is completely neutral of politics, while a single gay relationship in a game crosses the line into propaganda. Rather than thinking of this purely in dollars and cents, please consider talking to queer people on your team and to your queer players, about how much just being allowed to visibly exist in a game the way we do in the real world can mean to us.

I'd like to point out that as a straight, cis male, I don't really give a damn about the characters sexual preference unless it's shoved down my throat (regardless of which preference). If the story is good and the gameplay is fun, I'm going to buy it and have fun playing it. Those two factors are to me (and probably many others) more important than some random sexual preference of any of the characters. Keep in mind your audience for (any) JRPG is primarily young adults who probably watch some form of anime. In a lot of cases, LGBT inclusiveness is a common theme in them.

How would anyone come by those facts and data you want? Someone could, for instance, A-B test their game. Ship two games, one with the feature and the other without, and see which one sells better. That sounds impractical; if it is in fact impractical, then it is impractical to collect the data you want.

@Jefromi Thanks for letting me know—I'd totally thought that was the best way to say it when initially writing it.

@ND523 Thanks, that really makes it more pleasant for me, and hopefully others :)

But actually it is quite likely that you do have a target audience in mind, you just don't realize that "everyone" actually means "everyone who has the same taste you have".

@barbecue While I do believe that the phrase "shoved down our throat" is generally how you characterize it I also think that in the comment you're replying to it's more an indictment of gratuitous use of the sexual act in games, as the poster said "regardless of preference". I'm one of those that finds many sex scenes in movies to be gratuitous; they don't advance the narrative at all and are merely for titillation value in my opinion, usually targeted at/for men specifically.

So is this question about LGBT in general or about the lesbian couple? Because there is probably a huge difference in reception of a male or female gay couple in your game ;)

@barbecue Not true. The point of this thread is not to assert a political opinion, so please keep that in mind. Popeye shoves down your throat that spinach is healthy. Spinach is healthy! You can’t deny it—but they take every opportunity to tell you about it. That’s the issue many people have in this situation. Whether they support the community or not, many, it seems, get tired of the seemingly perpetual assertions of normalization.