ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the ways in which gender, sex and sexuality in video games can be studied by focusing three key relationships: games and gamers, play and representation, and roles and performances. In this way, the distinguishing element of games, the ability to play, not only with the game but also with identities and subjectivities, affords a look at the multiple ways games and their players can explore gender, sex and sexuality. Indeed, as this chapter will show, play occasions opportunities for players to inhabit roles that challenge the stability of gender, sex and sexuality as constructs. This is important because the full realm of possibilities for LGBTQ+ inclusion may not be completely considered by traditional approaches based on representation and narrative alone.
