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Abstract

Through conducting interviews, this research aims to find out what its participants considered good and bad examples of LGBT representation in the video games they have experienced and through phenomenological analysis attempts to understand why they believe these representations are either positive or negative. This data is used to make suggestions to game developers the factors they should consider when designing and creating their LGBT characters such as to create an appealing visual design, create an interesting storyline for the character, both including and excluding their identity, and allow the character to express their identity visually through romantic acts. There are also suggestions on what to avoid when creating LGBT video game characters such as unlikable characteristics, offensive jokes, underdevelopment, censorship, fetishisation and unrewarding romance. This data also suggests that more effort may be required to create compelling and memorable LGBT characters in video game genres heavily focused on its gameplay rather than narrative, such as FPS and fighting games, yet can still yield good results. This research, however, lacks data on what could make positive transgender representations both due to an overall lack of instances mentioned by participants.

Course: Creative Media Technologies - BSc - C2734S

Date Deposited: 2025-01-10

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis14630.html