Presentation. Beyond the avatar: LGBTIQ+ representations, narratives and communities in video games

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5209/eslg.106636
Keywords: video games, LGTBQI , queer, youth, digital communication
Agencies: “Persuasive Communication in Games-as-a-Service: Problematic Uses among Generation Z – PERVID GEN Z” (PR17/24-31893), funded by the agreement between the Community of Madrid and the Complutense University of Madrid, “Political Radicalisation in Digital Play Environments: Production, Mediation, and Dissemination of Extremist Ideologies – Rage Game” (PID2024-158794OB-I00), funded by the Spanish State Research Agency (Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities)

Abstract

Video games constitute a strategic space for the representation, resistance and experimentation of gender and sexual identities. Faced with a cultural imaginary historically defined by cisheteronormative narratives, the medium has emerged as a key cultural artefact where LGBTIQ+ communities negotiate their visibility and build spaces for belonging and activism. Within the framework of Queer Game Studies and a broad conception of 'queer'—understood as the questioning of all normativity—this volume examines both representation within videoludic texts and the trajectories of players and creators, exploring how gaming mediates socialisation processes and collective imaginaries. Through various methodologies, the collected contributions demonstrate that video games transcend mere leisure to become a terrain for affective and political experimentation, essential for understanding the interaction between popular culture and identity in the contemporary era.

Author Biographies

Sergio Gutiérrez Manjón, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

PhD in Audiovisual Communication, Advertising and Public Relations from the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) with international recognition. Accredited as a Contracted Doctoral Professor by ANECA since 2023. He has completed a research stay at the University of Helsinki with an Erasmus+ scholarship. His lines of research are digital communication, media literacy and game studies, on which he has published in high-impact journals. He is the principal investigator of an R&D project funded by the Community of Madrid (PR17/24-31893) and a member of a Knowledge Generation 2024 R&D project funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation. He has participated in nine teaching innovation projects and has led one of them with funding from the UCM Vice-Rectorate for Quality. Secretary of the Spanish Society for Video Game Sciences since 2022, coordinator of the Virtual Campus of the UCM Faculty of Information Sciences since 2024 and technical editor of Icono 14 magazine (Scopus Q2 in the area of Communication) since 2025.

Lucía Gloria Vázquez Rodríguez, University College London

I am a media scholar specialized in feminist and queer approaches to popular culture. I have an MA in Film and Philosophy from King's College London and a PhD in Audiovisual Communication, Advertising and PR from the Complutense University of Madrid, where I used to be part of a highly active research group named GECA (Gender, Aesthetics and Audiovisual Culture), and wrote a thesis on the representation of desires, bodies and queer identities in Latin American cinema directed by women.
I currently worked as lecturer and Programme Leader for the MA Digital Media: Production at University College London, where I also conduct research within the ReMAP Centre (Research on Media, Arts and Play).
My main areas of interest are Queer and Feminist Screen Studies, Digital Fandom Communities, and Media Literacy, particularly in relation to teenagers, streaming platforms, sexual scripts and gender roles. I am currently working on a book on the uses of haptic (highly sensorial) images within queer contemporary films directed by women, although I have also published extensively about LGBTIQ+ teen TV shows such as "Sex Education".

Mireya Vicent-Ibáñez, Universidad de Burgos

PhD in Audiovisual Communication from the Complutense University. My research interests focus on the media (television, film and video games) from various perspectives, both historical and cultural studies. I am currently involved in a research project on hate speech in Spain, funded by MINECO.

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Published
2026-03-12
How to Cite
Gutiérrez Manjón S., Vázquez Rodríguez L. G. y Vicent-Ibáñez M. (2026). Presentation. Beyond the avatar: LGBTIQ+ representations, narratives and communities in video games. Estudios LGBTIQ+, Comunicación y Cultura, 6(1), 5-11. https://doi.org/10.5209/eslg.106636
Issue
Vol. 6 No. 1 (2026): Dossier temático: Más allá del avatar: representaciones, narrativas y comunidades LGBTIQ+ en los videojuegos
Section
Presentation

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In order to support the global exchange of knowledge, the journal Estudios LGBTIQ +, Comunicación y Género is allowing unrestricted access to its content as from its publication in this electronic edition, and as such it is an open-access journal. The originals published in this journal are the property of the Complutense University of Madrid and any reproduction thereof in full or in part must cite the source. All content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 use and distribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This circumstance must be expressly stated in these terms where necessary. You can view the summary and the complete legal text of the licence.