Diversity and representation: exploring LGBTQIA+ controversy in the gaming industry

The video game industry has attracted the attention of researchers for many years due to the ongoing debates and controversies that usually involve a large number of participants and actors. Such controversies associated with video games and being born in a digital environment require a special approach and method of analysis that would consider all the constituents, actors, and their opinions on emerging issues. One of the topics traditionally attracting public attention is the protection of the rights to freedom of speech and representation of the LGBTQIA+ community. For the past decades, video games were traditionally created and developed by straight white men for the same group of people, however, in recent years, as many studies show, this trend has started to change, and the gaming industry is becoming more diversified both among developers and players. However, not everyone is ready for such changes, which entails laws limiting the right to representation and other restrictions. Often such incidents are covered in social networks and other media. One such example is the controversy that arose after Electronic Arts refused to release The Sims 4 expansion pack in Russia in 2022, explaining this by the presence of anti-LGBTQIA+ laws in this country that go against the views and beliefs of the developer company. As a consequence, such a decision by Electronic Arts, as well as the development and adoption by Russia of a law on anti-propaganda of the LGBTQIA+ community, led to the emergence of a controversy, where the main actors and all interested figures were divided in their views. Using the method of discursive controversy mapping, it became possible to analyze this controversy, identify the central actors and their positions, as well as identify central issues and come to certain conclusions. As this controversy has shown, in recent years people in countries where their rights are being infringed have begun to assert their rights, however, this can be largely influenced by political structures, which can still exert pressure and influence on the video game industry. Nevertheless, video games industry can no longer be called just a way of entertainment because it begins to combine different components of human social life and transform into a structure that potentially reflects changes in society.