OUT MAKING GAMES PUBLISHES MAJOR NEW REPORT – ‘TRAPPED IN THE NETWORK’
Out Making Games, the not-for-profit organisation empowering LGBTQ+ individuals in the games industry, has released a new report which examines the global rise of LGBTQ+ content censorship – and what the games industry must do to respond.
The report, which has been authored by Video Games Industry Memo, traces the history of digital censorship, examining how increasingly porous approaches to content regulation have fostered widespread self-censorship. The report highlights that this has been achieved through three key mechanisms: generating fear of retribution, creating friction when accessing content, and flooding public discourse with supportive narratives to control the conversation.
Trapped in the Network explores why LGBTQ+ communities have historically been a common target for state-sponsored oppression, and how this has made LGBTQ+ video game content a specific focus for censorship – a trend accelerated by the mainstream success of titles such as The Last of Us and Baldur’s Gate 3, which challenged long-held assumptions about who plays games and what stories they want to tell.
The report examines the practical mechanisms through which LGBTQ+ censorship operates in games: from state frameworks of fear and platform-level friction as the frontline of enforcement, to institutional self-censorship and the organised harassment of creators. It also addresses the ‘contagion’ effect, whereby censorship originating in jurisdictions with strict laws spreads across the wider games industry due to its inherently global and digital nature.
Crucially, Trapped in the Network does not stop at diagnosis. It sets out actionable recommendations for how the industry can push back – including changes to public policy, stronger platform moderation, support for businesses to resist self-censorship, and concrete steps to protect and celebrate LGBTQ+ players and communities.
“We hope this report helps the industry, and the community within it, find the confidence to act,” said Out Making Games’ Directors.
Women in Games CEO Dr Marie-Claire Isaaman offered: “Women are part of the LGBTQ+ community too, and when LGBTQ+ voices, stories and creators are censored, the whole games industry is poorer for it. This important report highlights the growing challenges facing LGBTQ+ people in games and reinforces why we must continue to champion inclusion, representation and freedom of expression for everyone.”
The full report is available to download now HERE