The 2021 GLAAD Media Awards have announced nominated titles for inclusive and accurate LGBTQ+ representation in media, including 10 video games. These nominees center queer characters and stories, and remind players that even (and especially) in fantastical stories, there's still a place for real-world gender and sexuality negotiation.
Here's a rundown of the 2021 GLAAD Media Awards nominees for Outstanding Video Game.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
The latest in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed franchise, Assassin's Creed Valhalla allows players to pursue queer romance with NPCs, allowing for more realistic in-game relationships. More importantly, Assassin's Creed Valhalla also allows players to change the gender of their character at will.
Previous installments allowed players to choose a man or woman protagonist, but allowing players to shift the gender of their character whenever they like is much more similar to real-world gender negotiations. It's no surprise the main character's relationship to their own gender and choice in pursuable romances placed Assassin's Creed Valhalla on GLAAD's nomination list this year.
Borderlands 3: Guns, Love, and Tentacles
Guns, Love, and Tentacles: The Marriage of Wainwright & Hammerlock is a DLC for 2K Games' Borderlands 3. It tells the story of the marriage between Sir Alistair Hammerlock and Wainwright Jakobs and the fanatical cult that tries to interrupt it.
Centering a gay wedding in the DLC makes it feel like a truly inclusive story. While Borderlands isn't known for its emotional maturity, players will find some tender queer moments in the calm between eldritch shoot-outs. Borderlands 3: Guns, Love, and Tentacles shows that LGBTQ-inclusive stories can still lead to a raucous, violent and fun gaming experience.
Bugsnax
Young Horses' surprising hit Bugsnax features a dozen main characters, nearly half of which are queer. A lesbian couple and two gay characters are given actual story arcs and character growth. There's also a non-binary character named Floofty, who uses they/them pronouns. More importantly, Floofty is voiced by a non-binary trans woman, actor Casey Mongillo.
Not only does Bugsnax work to incorporate inclusive and diverse characters, it ensures these roles are played by actors who can truly bring them to life. Bugsnax's representation -- both on screen and in casting -- makes it a shoe-in nominee for the GLAAD Media Awards.
Hades
Hades draws on the deeply queer Greek mythological canon, so it's no surprise Supergiant Games' hit release also incorporates its share of LGBTQ relationships. The famous couple Achilles and Patroclus are presented in a believable relationship, with no innuendo or hedging but instead, emotional longing.
The player character Zagreus is also given deep chemistry with both Megara and Thanatos, giving a bi character the spotlight. From its thoughtful representation of queer characters to the priority it gives queer relationships, it's no wonder GLAAD included Hades on its list.
If Found… (Annapurna Interactive)
Less mainstream than many other games on this list, If Found... is an innovative visual novel telling the intertwining stories of protagonists Kasio and Cassiopeia, by allowing the player only to erase what's on the screen.
Kasio, a trans woman looking to come out to her mother, is given a complex story full of both trauma and bliss, painting a very multi-dimensional queer character in an industry that too often turns to tropes. Kasio's journey is informed by lead designer Llaura McGee's coming out as a trans woman in the '90s, lending not only realism but a poignant nostalgia to If Found....
Ikenfell
Humble Games' magical JRPG Ikenfell includes a cast of characters who are predominately LGBTQ+, drawing from the lived experience of many of the games' developers and designers. With gay, bi and trans characters throughout the magical school, Ikenfell put in the work to ensure all sorts of players could see themselves in this game.
Non-binary alchemist Petronella is also asexual, showing the game's commitment to representation of different genders and sexualities. Ikenfell brought people on to ensure the game's queer representation was respectful, which is exactly the type of work GLAAD is attempting to recognize with its annual Media Awards.
Immortals Fenyx Rising
Ubisoft's Immortals Fenyx Rising offers players a robust character design platform, allowing for customization of everything from body type to voice. It even allows players to change their pronouns at anytime -- even though pronouns are automatically assigned based on the voice a player chooses, these aren't set in stone.
In addition to allowing players to customize their own experience, Immortals Fenyx Rising incorporates queer mythology in the heart of its story, with bi characters who describe relationships with others of multiple genders.
The Last of Us Part II
Blockbuster release The Last of Us Part II stacked its stories with queer characters. The main protagonist Ellie is a lesbian, her girlfriend Dina is bi and side character Lev is a trans man. Many of these stories aren't happy ones: Lev is deadnamed as he attempts to flee the religious cult trying to dictate his role in the community, and there are occasional moment of homophobia. However, The Last of Us Part II certainly worked to ensure its main characters and storylines represented its audience.
Tell Me Why
Xbox Game Studios' Tell Me Why is the first major studio game that allows gamers to play as a trans character. Trans man Tyler is a complex and fully-realized character, whose backstory is explored throughout Tell Me Why. But in addition to featuring a playable LGBTQ+ character, the game also features other queer characters, like Alyson's gay best friend Michael.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
World of Warcraft started its work toward a more inclusive future with World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. Not only does this release feature prominent gay characters, but players also meet the trans character Pelagos in the afterlife zone. More than just including queer characters in its story, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands now allows players to change their gender at in-game barbershops, allowing for a more real-world approach to a character's gender identity.
GLAAD nominating not just indie games but visual novels, which are often forgotten in favor of mainstream, interactive video games with a lot of monetary backing, shows the organization is serious about queer representation in all types of video games. With twice the number of video game nominees from last year, the 2021 GLAAD Media Awards nominees show that video games have made some improvements to the way they incorporate LGBTQ+ content -- to the benefit to players everywhere.