But 11 years is a very long time for any scene, and the FGC is in a a lot completely different place, particularly with regard to the way it views queerness and treats its LGBTQ+ group members.

Of course, preventing video games are not any strangers to LGBTQ+ characters. Bridget and Testament from Guilty Gear are two of probably the most outstanding examples in current reminiscence, however queer illustration in preventing video games arguably goes again to the style’s roots within the late ’80s. While no point out of it was made within the authentic Street Fighter, the gentlemanly British fighter Eagle, whose design was impressed by bisexual icon Freddie Mercury, is implied to be homosexual in later appearances. Other video games like Mortal Kombat, Tekken, and BlazBlue have included queer or gender-nonconforming characters of their playable rosters at numerous factors.

In the aggressive scene, queer gamers have risen to the heights of their respective video games. The hottest of all of them is Dominique “SonicFox” McLean, who has gained main tournaments throughout a number of video games together with Mortal Kombat X, Skullgirls, Dragonball FighterZ, and seemingly any preventing sport they determine to select up for greater than a pair months. Claire “UMISHO” Harrison, a trans girl, took residence the highest prize for Guilty Gear Strive on the 2022 Evolution Championship Series (EVO), one of many largest preventing sport tournaments on the planet. Other gamers like Ricki Ortiz, Dawn “Yohosie” Hosie, and Mia “Mira” Reshel have additionally gained or positioned extremely in main tournaments for his or her video games. 

Even past prime participant illustration, nonetheless, the FGC is without doubt one of the most numerous communities in esports. Whether it’s match organizers like Montreal’s Ishmael Cohen-Scali, casters like Gar, and even builders like Mane6’s Lindsay Towns and Jen Barboza, queer voices may be present in virtually any sport or position locally. If you go to any native preventing sport occasion on any given week, you’ll nearly actually discover a trans lady training some preventing sport you’ve by no means heard of earlier than on the setup she introduced from residence, and she or he will educate you tips on how to play it in case you stand there lengthy sufficient.

So how did we get right here? What makes the FGC particularly so numerous? 

Jamaal “Ryyudo” Graves, a participant, commentator, and occasional match organizer, mentions the traditionally numerous casts of characters which have been a staple of the style since its inception. He says that preventing video games “have done extremely well about shying away from strictly straight white male casts, doing more than most games of earlier decades and even today. Having more characters meant fleshing them out in unique ways. So we get the World Warriors of Street Fighter when, around that time, NES classic Punch-Out!! might have been the closest to matching that variety. Players attached to these characters and still do years later; Chun-Li as a strong woman in gaming is one of the best examples. When done with good intentions, we’ve received strong representation and empowerment within fighting games.”

Cohen-Scali says the identical, and in addition cites preventing video games’ “arcade roots” as a contributing issue. “Arcades were a cheap and centralized place for people to meet up and play games with others, cultivating a local community and culture centered around these games. Arcades could also be connected to bowling alleys, movie theaters, or other smaller businesses that let them recoup the cost pretty easily, even in poorer neighborhoods, because of the low barrier to entry for the games.”