A new 2024 GLAAD Gaming Report has come out, and for the first time in the company’s history, they’ve revealed a report based on LGBTQ representation, and that report shows how the LGBTQ community is underrepresented in gaming media.
The 2024 GLAAD Gaming Report has just been published, and in it are a few firsts. Notably, a first on the representation of LGBTQ communities in video games. While the report argues that games are a ‘vital resource’ of the world and 17% (or 1-in-5) gamers belong to the LGBTQ community, they are still underrepresented in the gaming industry. A previous report from Nielson three years ago suggests only 10% of gamers were LGBTQ, but that has risen a massive 7% since what the report says is “a 70% percent increase from the 10% counted in Nielsen’s 2020 report.”
SVP of Diverse Insights and Initiatives at Nielsen, Stacie de Armas, claims representation goes even further than what’s being represented in-game and says, “GLAAD’s finding that 17% of active gamers are LGBTQ, and the growth from 10% of active gamers being LGBTQ from Nielsen’s Games360 study in 2020, proves their tremendous influence on the gaming industry. The study shows that for LGBTQ gamers, a safe and inclusive environment goes beyond the game itself—with nearly 70% indicating they are less likely to buy from a studio with a history of mistreating LGBTQ workers.”
The report goes on to detail how GLAAD Gaming went about conducting its research. The organization used the tag “LGBT+” to determine how many games identified as such, and the reports were astoundingly abysmal (which says a lot). It’s worth mentioning that this research was done by filtering out games with the ‘LGBTQ’ tag in them — how it is portrayed on Steam or Xbox — which isn’t an exact science. On both lists, Dragon Age: Inquisition and Baldur’s Gate 3 (both Game of the Year winners) are not included in the list when the filter is applied, but both titles have included representation from the community.
That all being said, the GLAAD Gaming 2024 report details how woefully underrepresented the community is compared to the staggering growth the industry has seen since 2020. Gamers themselves have proven in the report that gaming should be more inclusive. The report says 50% of non-LGBTQ gamers and 65% of LGBTQ gamers feel that game developers have a responsibility to make gaming and gaming spaces more inclusive.
This is aside from the reported GLAAD Gaming statement that “games account for less than 2% of Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo’s total digital libraries. For Steam, it is less than 2.5%, but drops to just 1.7% when adult-only games are excluded.” When compared with the growth of a community, the gaming industry is falling short when compared to other mediums with proper representation.
Fans looking for more information about the GLAAD Gaming Report 2024 can visit the official website that shows all the details.
