Companies waved the Pride flag but gaming is still far from queer inclusive

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six® Siege - Amethyst Weapon Skin

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege: Amethyst Weapon Skin

This year's Pride month had a greater presence in gaming than any before it. Several companies adopted pride colours over their well known logos, PlayStation sponsored London Pride and The Last of Us 2's lesbian kiss took centre stage at E3, the world's biggest gaming event. The talk online seemed to be that gaming was now an inclusive space and the conservative elements holding it back had at last been vanquished.

Adopting Pride colours sends a message to the ignorant out there but did this show of support translate into any meaningful action? Not really. PlayStation sponsoring London Pride was the strongest effort made by any large video game company and while public celebrations of queerness are important, paying to essentially have PlayStation branding all over a parade doesn't exactly strike me as real support. "Corporate pride" is a real problem and it goes without saying, big companies and corporations are not your friends.

It was still more than what most companies did. No public donations to LGBT charities, shelters or activist groups. No efforts to help out queer developers, to boost their presence on platforms like Steam. Nothing.

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