Steam has finally added an official LGBTQ+ tag that will allow consumers to browse for games that are out and proud.
The move was made more than a year after Valve removed the option for developers to self-tag their titles with an “LGBT” tag, Kotaku reported as part of a piece that explains how the new, official tag has come to be.
At the time of writing, a total of seventy-six games are tagged as LGBTQ+, including Curtis Campion’s Newfound Courage and Up Multimedia’s My Ex-Boyfriend the Space Tyrant and Escape from Pleasure Planet.
“I think it’s fantastic,” Campion said of the tag in conversation with Stevivor. “It’s made it far easier to find games with LGBT+ content. It could even change the way we market LGBT+ games on Steam.”
“A lot of companies support LGBTQ people with empty rainbow branding, but what Steam has done will directly support me and other LGBTQ+ game developers and artists,” Campion continued on Twitter. “This is how you be a good ally.”
“[It’s] long overdue but welcome,” Miller told Stevivor. “I would also encourage Valve to allow ‘gay’ as a tag. I understand the word is banned due to concern about trolling but I believe the gaming scene has matured enough in the last ten years that gamers can talk about the different types of games within the LGBTIQ scene proudly and with nuance.”
Miller said that while he appreciates the tag, it’s come “probably too late,” and asserted that “Itch[.io] is the home of LGBT games.”
You can browse Steam’s LGBTQ+ tag right here.
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