Ben-DutkaIt's such a sensitive situation.
EA has received "several thousand letters and emails" protesting the inclusion of same-sex relationships in their games; in other words, people are expressing their disapproval of this embracing of "LGBT" (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender). Now, EA is trying to defend themselves.
You can read the full report over at GamesIndustry International ; recently, games like Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic have come under fire for showing off intimate same-sex scenes. But the publisher has no intention of censoring itself. Said Jeff Brown, vice president of corporate communications:
"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."
The letters have been addressed to EA's executive team, creative bosses, and its board of directors, and many say they won't buy any EA titles in the future until that offensive content is gone. To add more spice to the mix, some of those letters accuse EA of bowing to pressure exerted by LGBT groups to include homosexual content. It has also been suggested that EA is purposely deleting posts against LGBT issues on the publisher's official forum. Added Brown:
"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."
We have absolutely no comment on the issue. Zero. Less than zero. If you'd like to discuss this civilly in the Comments section below or in the forums, please do. But be aware that any such discussions will be monitored…we're supposed to be keeping things all loosey-goosey around here, after all. 😉
