'Pride in competitive play': analyzing LGBTQ+ inclusivity in eSports through the incorporation of the Pride Movement in games

• Main Author: Teo, Ting Wei
• Other Authors: Patrick Williams
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Social sciences::Sociology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/168528
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

In the last decade especially, eSports has emerged as a competitive aspect of video games alongside rising LGBTQ+ activism through the Pride Movement. Yet, with eSports often perceived as a hegemonically masculine – ‘toxic’ – environment, how does its growth fit in with changing socio-political climates such as increased LGBTQ+ visibility? This research seeks to explore (i) how eSports has incorporated representations of the Pride Movement, (ii) how consumers of eSports respond to such efforts, and (iii) what their responses imply/reflect about the state of LGBTQ+ inclusivity in eSports. This research relies upon theories of spatiality and the circuit of culture, along with qualitative content analysis of eSports in-game and off-game content and 12 semi-structured interviews with a mix of heterosexual and non-heterosexual eSports consumers, to interpret how LGBTQ+ inclusivity in eSports is a changing, contested and communal effort. More ground-up strategies to include LGBTQ+ gamers and communities in eSports are recommended.