Soccer Video Game Will Now Make Users React To Players Coming Out Mid-Season

Source –  Modern elite male British football is still waiting for its first openly gay player. Maybe Football Manager can help. In this year’s edition of the computer game, players come out. “Part of the reason we decided to do this is because there are gay footballers,” Miles Jacobson, the game’s director, told BBC Sport.

So how does it work?

He explained that, if one of these players at your club comes out, you’ll find out from a news item in your in-game inbox. Soon after, your commercial director will inform you of a boost in the club’s revenue, in part due to new attention from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

Jacobson says that, after taking advice from anti-discrimination group Kick it Out, and having closely examined cases of players coming out in other sports, they believe they have arrived at the most representative future scenario. He said it was not about changing opinions, but rather about “normalising the issue”.

“Hopefully, it will make some people look up and think, ‘this is ridiculous’.”

Okay, first of all, how do they come out? Is it in a Facebook post? Do they get caught on Grindr? Do people find out he listens to Chaka Khan?  There hasn’t been a gay video game player since Link in Legend Of Zelda so they need to hit the nail on the head. They also need to get more gay over time. Like, obviously they’re going to start off masc but they should swing more towards the middle over time. Maybe go through a reinvention stage. Nothing too extreme just something subtle. Like a nose ring or dangly cross earring- they are in England. It may also be a good idea to feature a postgame virtual shower scenario. That way they can weed out the homophobic players based on who wears a bathing suit.

I’d never heard of the game until today because computer games are for poors and I don’t live in England but it sounds interesting. The way it works is that the computer generates new, young players that refresh the system’s database after each virtual season.  Seasons take anywhere from ten to sixty-five hours depending on difficulty. I’m not a soccer guy, but apparently the people love it. How well received the “coming out feature” will be has yet to be determined. I can’t imagine dealing with virtual personal issues would be a draw. Although if the idea is to normalize gay athletes IRL then it may have some merit. The immediacy of clicking X to resolve what most see as a non-issue could provide a valuable lesson in acceptance for younger users.

Haters are going to say there’s no place for gay characters in gaming but that’s because they’re idiots. Before the outrage starts remember: there are bigger fish to fry. So yes- it’s a little strange but don’t waste your breath making a stink about it. No one cares what you have to say anyways.