BioWare Recants, Confirms Gays Exist in Star Wars (Eventually)

BioWare’s upcoming MMO (massively multiplayer online) game Star Wars: The Old Republic has officially become the latest high-profile video game to include same-gender romance options for players. In honor of the occasion, I will attempt to write this entire post without making tasteless lightsaber jokes.

Do I have what it takes? Read on and find out.

This news is a pretty big turnaround from April 2009, when the game’s forums were discovered to be automatically censoring the words “gay,” “lesbian,” and “homosexual,” and when BioWare community manager Sean Dahlberg let loose with this gem in a discussion thread:

[Gay and lesbian] are terms that do not exist in Star Wars. Thread closed.

Considering that BioWare has developed such a strong reputation in recent years as a gay-friendly developer (see David Gaider’s epic takedown of a fan who complained about same-gender romances in Dragon Age II), it’s surprising that the above comment remained the official word on the subject for over two years. BioWare has finally broken the silence, however, and it turns out that gays do exist in Star Wars after all! Just not right away. Here’s the official statement on the subject:

Due to the design constraints of a fully voiced MMO of this scale and size, many choices had to be made as to the launch and post-launch feature set. Same gender romances with companion characters in Star Wars: The Old Republic will be a post-launch feature. Because The Old Republic is an MMO, the game will live on through content expansions which allow us to include content and features that could not be included at launch, including the addition of more companion characters who will have additional romance options.

We can safely call this a pretty significant win. Sure, it’s hard to be happy that gay romances have been relegated to the back burner or that the time frame for implementation could generously be called “intentionally vague.” But considering how this controversy began, it’s played out fairly well. The new company line of “we had so much to do and some things just had to wait” is a tough sell, and it seems clear what really happened. Some very dedicated fans were vocal about their desire for the inclusion of same-gender romance options and that’s probably the only reason those options are finding their way into the game (eventually).

No word yet on how to deal with a handsy medical droid.

I for one thought I had heard just about enough from “vocal” fans discussing gay romances in games (evidently the Bible condemns gayness in gaming, but not murder or thievery), so it’s a welcome change to see at least some of the public outcry go our way this time. It’s great to have game developers including gay romances of their own accord, but a developer making that choice because of fan demand is even better, and it may be a sign that the tide is finally turning in the gaming community.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is due for release on December 20, so you don’t have too much longer to wait if you’re interested. What do readers think of BioWare’s change of heart? Are you anxious to use your Force Grip on another Jedi’s lightsaber?

…And I came so close.