Far Cry 3 writer says we won't see gay protagonist in AAA game for a while over sales fears

Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon writer Lucien Soulban is openly gay, and has been asked for his opinion on gay protagonists in triple-a games during a new interview posted by Ubisoft. He feels it won't happen for a while due to fears that it will bear a negative impact on sales.

Over on the Ubisoft blog, Soulban was asked when we could expect to see a gay hero in a triple-a game. He replied, "Oh boy. I think the real question is, When are going to get a gay/lesbian AAA hero(ine) who isn’t a one-off joke? You look at Javier Bardem in Skyfall, his character’s sexuality was total shtick to satisfy one scene. Otherwise, he was a narcissist with mommy issues, and a pedophile to boot.

"His 'seduction' of Bond was nothing more than vanity because Bond was his reflection, the new 'him.' Yay. So it bothers me when I hear people using his performance as a benchmark for diversity in entertainment, and I have heard it being bandied about.

"So when are we going to see that gay protagonist in a AAA game? Not for a while, I suspect, because of fears that it’ll impact sales. So either we’ll see a bait-and-switch like the original Metroid with Samus Aran where we’ll find out damn near after the fact (PS: And Dumbledore was gay), or it’ll come out of left field with Rockstar, Valve, Naughty Dog or Telltale, perhaps. But when it happens, I hope it’s a serious take on it and not played up for jokes."

Soulban noted that we are seeing more gay characters in games these days and that it's a quiet progression flagged by relationship choices in Mass Effect, Fable and Skyrim. "Videogames have stopped 'announcing' gay characters," he added. "They’re introducing them without much fanfare in an effort to say, Yeah, it’s there and pretty normal. Call it: We’re here, we’re queer, and we’re busy working.

What's your take on gaming's approach to gay characters? Let us know below.

Via Polygon.