EA adds gay characters to Star Wars game

When it comes to homosexuality, this particular topic can be a potential banana peel for those who are not careful. Well, Electronic Arts has decided to go ahead by introducing gay characters to its Star Wars: The Old Republic game, drawing ire from conservative anti-gay groups. Basically, characters can now indulge in same-sex relationships as well as plot lines in the digital world, and this is definitely not new, so Electronic Arts cannot claim to be first off the blocks with such an idea.

The Florida Family Association and the Family Research Council has stated, “There were no LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender] characters in any of the Star Wars movies. So if BioWare, the maker of Star Wars video games, adds LGBT characters for kids to select as their action character it could be something like Darth RuPaula, a combination of Darth Vader, one of the most popular Star Wars characters, and RuPaul, the renown transgender cross dresser.”

What do you think of this particular move by Electronic Arts? Is it simply meant for publicity purposes, or were they really listening to the pulse of gamers and decided that same-sex characters deserve a place in their pantheon of video games? Image courtesy of Gamespot, and it would be interesting to learn the dynamics of inter-species relationships.

Edwin Kee
Categories: Gaming
Tags: electronic arts, Star Wars