The video game world, for all its mind-blowing technical innovation, can be a surprisingly traditional place. Earlier this month, Jeff Hickman, the executive producer of Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, announced a major sign of progress: his team is working hard to create a same-gender romance option for game characters.
“I want to apologize that this is taking so long to get in the game. I realize that we promised SGR [same gender romance] to you guys and that many of you believed that this would be with a companion character… As we have said in the past, allowing same gender romance is something we are very supportive of.”
Hickman added that some non-playable characters already have the SGR option, which takes them one step closer to joining other video games that offer a range of relationship options (characters in “Skyrim,” for example, can marry characters of the same sex). I’m not a gamer, so I tend to focus on the representation of gay characters in movies and TV shows, which is important, but the truth is whatever the medium, increased visibility for same-sex relationships is something to be celebrated. [SWTOR via The Daily What]