Anti-Gay Campaign Targets EA

EA is the target of an anti-gay letter-writing campaign.

The company has received "several thousand" letters objecting to its inclusion of same-sex relationships in recent games.

According to report in GamesIndustry International, the letters have been sent to a cross-section of senior leaders at EA, often carrying a threat to boycott EA games unless it changes its policy.

The company says it will continue to include LGBT characters in its games, as options. EA's chief spokesperson Jeff Brown said, "Every one of EA's games includes ESRB content descriptors so it's hard to believe anyone is surprised by the content. This isn't about protecting children, it's about political harassment."

Recent EA games like Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars: The Old Republic have included options for characters to engage in same-sex as well as heterosexual relationships.

Many of the letters come from Florida, base of the Florida Family Association, which recently posted a call to action against SW:TOR's LGBT content, and which claims that "extremists" forced EA to include the content.

Brown added, "EA has not been pressured by any groups to include LGBT characters in our games. However, we have met with LBGT groups and sponsored industry forums to discuss content and harassment of players in online forums. In short, we do put options for same-sex relationships in our games; we don't tolerate hate speech on our forums."

Thanks GamesIndustry International.

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