Hi there! All this week, as you might need observed, Eurogamer has been celebrating Satisfaction with one other sequence of options exploring the intersection of queer tradition and gaming. As ever, it has been a pleasure and a privilege to have so many great individuals share their tales on the positioning – a large because of Keza MacDonald, Dom Peppiatt, Ed Nightingale, Caelyn Ellis, Ashly Burch, and everybody who helped out behind the scenes – and we have now gathered up all of this yr’s options right into a conveniently digestible listing on your leisurely weekend perusal under.
As ever, Eurogamer will proceed celebrating the achievements of – and highlighting the problems affecting – the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood in gaming all year long, and we’ll be again with one other week of Satisfaction celebrations in 2026. We hope you’ve got loved this, our sixth annual Satisfaction Week, and when you’ve missed out on any of our earlier yr’s festivities, you’ll be able to atone for all the pieces over on our Satisfaction Week hub. Till subsequent time!
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How far have we actually come since The Sims? A brief, candy historical past of being bi in video games – by Keza MacDonald
On Monday, The Guardian’s gaming editor Keza MacDonald kicked off our Satisfaction Week celebrations with a short historical past of bisexuality in video video games, looking how the business’s method to illustration has modified through the years – from playersexuality to the studios tackling extra particularly queer tales throughout the likes of Life is Unusual, Hades, and past.
“When queer illustration in video games actually began taking off within the mid-2010s,” Keza wrote, “it started with lesbian tales and romances. Earlier than 2014, once I was in my mid-twenties, I had by no means performed as a teenaged lady in a online game, not to mention a queer one; then got here The Final of Us: Left Behind, with its heart-wrenching depiction of a younger Ellie’s formative relationship along with her greatest good friend. 2013’s Gone House additionally depicted a relationship between two teenaged women, although from the surface – its denouement hit onerous for me, as a result of at the moment I virtually did not dare to hope {that a} recreation is perhaps telling a narrative like this, about queer women in love.”
You’ll be able to learn Keza’s full article right here.
“The center has no bounds”: A examine of polyamory in video games, the way it’s completed effectively, and the place we must always go subsequent – by Dom Peppiatt
Everyone’s favorite tousle-haired prince of the underworld Zagreus additionally made an look in Tuesday’s Satisfaction Week function, by which Eurogamer’s deputy editorial director Dom Peppiatt explored polyamory in video games; as builders attempt towards extra authentically queer tales, Dom noticed, it is heartening that well-written poly choices – from Hades and Date All the things to I Was a Teenage Exocolonist – are more and more coming to the fore.
“Given the shortage of poly illustration throughout fashionable media as a complete, I’m really fairly shocked with how effectively video games deal with it,” Dom wrote. “It seems like loads of video games are literally higher poised to look at and discover non-traditional relationship buildings than many TV exhibits or motion pictures. Maybe it is as a result of there is a larger degree of company in video games, and that participant alternative naturally lends itself to divining the correct relationship – or relationships – as a mechanic in an interactive media comprised virtually completely of, you guessed it, overlapping mechanics.”
You’ll be able to learn Dom’s full article right here.
Ultimate Fantasy 14’s queer neighborhood and the significance of chosen household – by Ed Nightingale
As we hit the midpoint of Satisfaction Week on Wednesday, Eurogamer’s deputy information editor Ed Nightingale returned to the world of Ultimate Fantasy, a sequence with a permanent attraction for a lot of queer gamers world wide. Extra particularly, Ed took a more in-depth have a look at Sq. Enix’s long-running MMO, Ultimate Fantasy 14, discovering a thriving neighborhood of queer gamers who’ve discovered important connections, friendships, even households of types, in an uncommonly welcoming recreation.
“As a lifelong Ultimate Fantasy fan,” Ed wrote, “I – like many queer gamers – have all the time been fascinated by the sequence’ distinct fantasy realms and its vibrant casts of spiky-haired, magical, sometimes cross-dressing, and typically splendidly non-human characters… That is why, once I was fortunate sufficient to attend the Ultimate Fantasy 14 Fan Fest occasions in 2023, I used to be struck by the variety and kindness of the sport’s neighborhood [where] gamers have met queer buddies, found an in-game world the place they are often themselves, and located a selected household.”
You’ll be able to learn Ed’s full article right here.
Video games could be a lot greater than an escape: they’ll encourage you to take motion – by Caelyn Ellis
On Thursday, long-time Eurogamer contributor Caelyn Ellis (now a daily author on the tabletop-focused publication Rascal Information) set free a rallying cry for motion in these difficult occasions. As Caelyn found, whereas the prospect of combating again towards seemingly not possible odds may sound intimidating, it seems video games have maybe been equipping us with the instruments to just do that – and turn out to be real-life heroes – all alongside.
“Connecting the dots between the real-world political organisation portrayed in Mad As Hell and the type of fantasy adventuring shenanigans present in a extra conventional RPG resulted in minor epiphany,” Caelyn wrote. “Proper now, queer individuals, notably trans individuals, are underneath assault. We want greater than allies; we’d like accomplices, defenders and, on the danger of sounding just a little trite, we’d like heroes. Heroes such as you already know learn how to be… I am asking you to take this additional and let video games encourage you to take motion.”
You’ll be able to learn Caelyn’s full article right here.
Podcast particular: Ashly Burch on the significance of queer roles, psychological well being, and genuine illustration in gaming
And for our last Satisfaction Week function of 2025, we chatted with actor and author Ashly Burch for a really particular version of the Eurogamer podcast. Making their second Satisfaction Week look, Dom Peppiatt hosted a wide-ranging dialogue of queerness and gaming, referring to all the pieces from Burch’s most iconic (and notably queer) roles – together with the Horizon sequence’ Aloy and Borderlands’ Tiny Tina – to how illustration of 1 group is usually a profit to all. Within the spirit of Satisfaction, this particular episode of the podcast is freely obtainable to all.
“I feel my favorite factor about this speak was the best way that, repeatedly, it turned evident that queerness isn’t just a ‘one-size-fits-all’ factor,” Dom wrote of their intro to the podcast. “That Burch’s understanding of pansexuality is as legitimate and essential as my understanding of bisexuality. There are a number of cases of our chat naturally dovetailing with one thing we talked about earlier; how illustration of 1 group is usually a profit to all, how we – as queer individuals – can declare characters of our personal identical to some other marginalised group can, and the way essential it’s to make use of our platforms to coach, promote, and persist.”
You’ll be able to hearken to the podcast in a wide range of totally different types right here.
