All of the new LGBTQ+ games shown at The Game Awards 2021
The Game Awards are many things: a spectacle where we celebrate the hard-working game developers who worked their butts off to make a game you enjoy, a night of serious entertainment, or about 4 hours of different advertisements of different games.
Regardless of the reason why you’re watching The Game Awards, the variety of games that get revealed throughout the show has been incredible and very exciting.
But we’re gaymers, right? So while we’re very happy that ‘-insert big AAA title with guns or something-‘ has been revealed, what about the games out there that offer the chance to show off LGBTQ+ themes and characters? Were there any of those games revealed at The Game Awards?
The short answer: yes.
The long answer: it’s hard to explain, but maybe more than one or two? See below.
Thirsty Suitors
Annapurna Interactive has always been the publisher behind not just some of the best games in the world, but games that are culturally diverse. Thirsty Suitors is no exception to this.
In this game, players will take on the role of Jala. Jala returns home to her small-town and clashes with her immigrant parents, as well as the sleuth of exes that aren’t too happy about her arrival. There will be turn-based combat, skateboarding, and intense cooking sequences!
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Developer: Outerloop Games
The Expanse – A TellTale Series
The Game Awards showed nothing but a brief trailer about The Expanse, a new game from TellTale Games. But in those brief moments, they revealed a character that LGBTQ+ fans of The Expanse know very well: Camina Drummer. Camina is well-loved by fans, and she is an important, queer figure as a character who is married to several men and women. A queer icon, really.
In this game, players will take the role of Camina, where your choices determine the fate of the ship after a brutal uprising.
Publisher: AIG
Developer: TellTale Games, Deck Nine
Wonder Woman
The reveal of a Wonder Woman game has got to be one of the most exciting things shown at this year’s The Game Awards – especially for queer comic fans who are stoked to see bisexual heroine Diana Prince kick ass and take names. Of course, this was only a teaser and there’s been nothing to confirm anything about what the game is about.
Our reason for including this game is that Wonder Woman has been confirmed as being a bisexual character back in 2016. Her film counterpart still has a lot of catching up to do in this regard, but could her first solo game make up for that difference? Only the future will tell.
Publisher: Warner Brothers Games
Developer: Monolith Productions
Saints Row Reboot
The Game Awards didn’t quite show us anything new when it came to the Saints Row reboot, but what it did show was another look at how – in spite of the new look – the reboot is still very much going to capture the same essence which made previous games in the series stand out.
It also gave us another look at how wild we can customize our Boss. We saw a banana suit, a furry costume, and so much more.
God, we’re so excited for Saints Row it’s unreal.
Publisher: Deep Silver
Developer: Volition
Tiny Tina’s Wonderland
We’ve already seen a lot of Tiny Tina’s Wonderland, but that didn’t stop Ashly Burch from appearing alongside Will Arnett to give us another show of the wacky, wonderful world that players will be venturing into when the game releases next year, March.
A looter-shooter at heart, Tiny Tina’s Wonderland will feature a sleuth of different characters, classes, and more that’ll satisfy both fans of fantasy and the feel-good controls of shooting and slashing at your enemies. Oh, and it’ll also feature yet another queer icon in gaming, Tiny Tina herself.
Publisher: 2K
Developer: Gearbox Software
Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League
The Suicide Squad – also known as Task Force X – are a group of supervillains who are forced together via a small bomb planted in their skull, courtesy of the task force’s leader, Amanda Waller. In Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the team have to go up against Brainiac-washed superheroes like Superman, The Flash, etc in order to save the world from total destruction.
The reason for including this game in our list revolves around two characters: namely Harley Quinn and King Shark. While we highly doubt that the two’s queerness will be involved in the game outside of obscure references, it’s hard not to get excited about the chance to play two very different queer villains in this wacky, co-op game.
Publisher: Warner Brother Games
Developer: Rocksteady Studios
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