League of Legends to Include LGBT Characters
In a recent interview at GDC 2017, League of Legends's design director Greg Street sat down with Polygon to discuss the eventual inclusion of LGBT characters amongst the game's roster. Citing Overwatch's overwhelmingly positive reception for Tracer's trailblazing reveal, Street is eager to follow suit and make an impact.
The kiss that started it all.
“We owe it to the players and, I think, to the world to do something like that,” Street said. “What I don’t want to do is be like, ‘Okay, team, next character, whatever you do, has to be lesbian.’ I don’t think we’ll end up with something good there.... From the beginning, it has to be the character’s identity. I’m sure we’ll do it at some point. I don’t know which character or when it will happen."
The League of Legends's universe is known for its extensive lore and backstory, much of which is told through mediums outside of the game itself, such as comics and animated shorts. And as such, voices of these future LGBT characters will likely be found and explored in these outside narratives. While Riot is very excited to be pursuing this new direction for its characters, Street is still cautiously optimistic and hopes his efforts will only be positive.
“There are countries whose laws around things that we consider pretty normal at this point in the U.S. are not the same way... We just have to be careful, because it’s not necessarily just about a game company taking on the government of some other country, which may be very exciting for players. It could end up with players in that region not being able to play a game, which may be striking a blow to those players. We don’t want to indirectly hurt players.”
Taric is too sexy for his shirt, so sexy that it hurts.
As of today, League of Legends has an impressive 134 champions under its belt. While none of them are officially confirmed to be gay, there has been much fan speculation about certain characters and the teams they play for. Taric for example, an openly flamboyant and flashy figure, is often pegged by fans as being in the glass closet. Hopefully, Riot's decision to officially include LGBT portrayals in its roster will open up a fresh chapter in League's lore, for characters both old and new.
