Gay characters in SW: Old Republic blasted by conservative groups

Game publisher Electronic Arts is getting caught in controversy after allegedly adding characters in same-sex relationships in its games, a tech site reported late Thursday.

 

According to CNET, some conservative anti-gay groups have questioned such characters in EA’s “Star Wars: The Old Republic” multiplayer online role-playing game.

 

“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,” said the anti-gay conservative group Florida Family Association.

 

Florida Family Association has also started a letter campaign targeting EA and threatening to boycott it unless it removes the same-sex characters.

 

But CNET quoted EA as saying it has no plans to eliminate any of its characters or censor any of its games, at least for now.

 

“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,” Jeff Brown, vice president of corporate communications for EA, told GamesIndustry in an interview last week, CNET reported.

 

“This isn’t about protecting children, it’s about political harassment,” he added.

 

CNET noted EA has been behind many hit games such as SimCity, The Simpsons, and Mass Effect.

 

To date, it said “Star Wars: The Old Republic” has sold more than two million copies.

 

EA plans to add same-sex characters to its mega-popular Mass Effect 3 game, it added.

 

“By making the decision to add same-sex characters to its online games, EA has become a pioneer in both the gaming community and the gay rights movement,” CNET noted. — TJD, GMA News