Xbox Game Studios Publishing is announcing a long-term partnership with GLAAD to support our LGBTQIA+ team members, our partner studios, and other game developers in our community in increasing representation in Xbox games. Through this partnership, we are hoping to bring more LGBTQIA+ stories, characters and lived experiences to Xbox in ways that will resonate with gamers around the world.
XGS Publishing previously worked with GLAAD on Don’t Nod’s narrative adventure Tell Me Why, which will be free for the entire month of June for the third year in a row. GLAAD’s involvement on Tell Me Why helped to empower trans, non-binary and LGBTQIA+ creatives on the project and ensure that co-protagonist Tyler Ronan, a young trans man, was portrayed in a way that would resonate with as many trans gamers as possible.
Microsoft Rewards members in the United States can earn and donate points to organizations supporting LGBTQIA+ communities with Xbox. The organizations below will be featured on console throughout June:
- GLAAD: Founded in 1985, GLAAD – the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization – works with television, film, video games, Spanish-language media, journalists, and social media to tell stories and consult on LGBTQ media representation. GLAAD tackles tough issues and provokes dialogue that leads to cultural change through increased media accountability, public campaigns, corporate engagement initiatives, and advocacy programs that help to ensure 100% inclusion and acceptance of the LGBTQ community. (US)
- Outright International: Outright International is dedicated to working with partners around the globe to strengthen the capacity of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) human rights movement, document and amplify human rights violations against LGBTIQ people, and advocate for inclusion and equality. (US)
- National Center for Transgender Equality – The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) advocates to change policies and society to increase understanding and acceptance of transgender and non-binary people. In the nation’s capital and throughout the country, NCTE works to replace disrespect, discrimination, and violence with empathy, opportunity, and justice. (US)
In addition XBOX will spotlight a curated list of games from LGBTQ+ communities:
Featured titles within the collections available with Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and the Game Pass mobile app include:
- Garden Story (Available with Xbox Game Pass on Console, PC, and Cloud) – From non-binary and Filipino American creator Picogram, Garden Story is a cozy game in which you play as Concord, a grape tasked with rebuilding their hometown in a world populated with fruits and vegetables that exclusively use they/them pronouns. Thematically, the game is all about the importance of community involvement and how we are stronger together, even when times are tough. The more residents you befriend, the stronger you become!
- Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan (Available with Xbox Game Pass on Console, PC, and Cloud) – In this kid-friendly adventure-puzzle-platformer, the main character, Billy, identifies as non-binary and the story explores the topic of identity outside of the heteronormative binary constrictions that exist in a black-and-white world. While on a quest to restore color to all the realms, Billy befriends several characters that talk lovingly about their same-sex partners. The game teaches acceptance and kindness through an innovative ‘combat’ system that focuses on empathetic communication.
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Available with Xbox Game Pass on Console, PC, and Cloud, Rated M) – There are multiple LGBTQIA+ playable operators to choose from in this tactical, team-based shooter. The first gay operator in the series was Flores, a master thief from Argentina dedicated to calling his husband every night. For the first trans woman in the game, Ubisoft consulted with the trans community and cast a trans woman to be the voice of Operator Osa, a skilled inventor and head of Nighthaven’s R&D. The most recent LGBTQIA+ operator added to the roster is Sens, a non-binary combat engineer.
- The Big Con (Available with Xbox Game Pass on Console, PC, and Cloud) – Play as Ali in this coming-of-age adventure that explores the morality of how far we’re willing to go to save our family. Voiced by Erika Ishii, who is openly pansexual and genderfluid, Ali is on an all-important mission to save her single mom’s video store from loan sharks. The story engages players to make decisions that are not adherently good or evil and follows through to ensure players actively face the consequences for those choices. While Ali’s identity as a lesbian is not the focus of the story, it is refreshing to see her same-sex relationship presented simply as a fact.
- Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers (Console) – Fiction Factory games is dedicated to delivering representation that stays with you and this sequel does not disappoint. Spearheaded by asexual writer and director Stephe Gagne and non-binary narrative designer Aenne Schumman, you can choose your pronouns, customize your look, and romance whoever you want (or no one at all) in this visual novel about arcade culture, mental health, and gender identity. With multiple endings and romance paths, players have several storylines to discover, including options to be aromantic, asexual, or polyamorous.
