14 DAY TRIAL // Electronic Arts has revealed that it has begun receiving a lot of messages in recent weeks through which players of its games, particularly Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic, are outraged because of the same-sex relationships present in those titles.
Gay romance scenes are nothing new when it comes to entertainment. EA, thanks to its BioWare studio, has led the way in terms of making them acceptable in games.
Two of its most recent titles, Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic featured lots of same-sex relationships, fact that triggered quite a negative response from several thousand people who’ve begun sending messages, either through email or letters, to members of EA.
The issue, spotted by GamesIndustry, isn’t a problem for the videogame publisher.
"Every one of EA's games includes ESRB content descriptors so it's hard to believe anyone is surprised by the content. This isn't about protecting children, it's about political harassment," Jeff Brown, vice president of corporate communications said about the issue.
Most of these letters, according to the website, claim that such relationships could have negative influences on children, although they forget the fact that Mass Effect 3 is rated M for Mature (meaning only teenagers over 17 can buy it), while Star Wars: The Old Republic is rated T for Teen (only players over 13 can get it).
Other messages complain that EA’s various moderators on the forums are deleting posts that express the anti-gay stance. When it comes to this problem, Brown reveals that such actions are taken only when discussions take a turn for the worse, transforming into hate speech.
“EA has not been pressured by any groups to include LGBT characters in our games. However, we have met with LBGT groups and sponsored industry forums to discuss content and harassment of players in online forums. In short, we do put options for same-sex relationships in our games; we don't tolerate hate speech on our forums," Brown added.
What do you think about same-sex relationships in EA’s games? Are they tastefully portrayed or just a cheap way of capturing attention?