Blizzard Responds to Growing Gay Controversy in World of Warcraft

The World of Warcraft community is embroiled in a heated debate over the visibility of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgendered individuals in the WoW universe.

On Friday evening, Blizzard responded to a recent incident that saw the game developer officially warn a World of Warcraft player for posting a chat message containing the phrase "We are not 'GLBT only,' but we are 'GLBT friendly'!

"GLBT" is a blanket term that refers to gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgendered individuals.

Responding to the incident--and the subsequent outcry--on the World of Warcraft community forums, a Blizzard community manager named "Caydiem" explained that the developer "encourage[s] community building among our players with others of similar interests."

However, Caydiem noted, Blizzard "prohibit[s] mention of topics related to sensitive real-world subjects in open chat within the game, and we do our best to take action whenever we see such topics being broadcast." Prohibited general chat topics include "political, sexual, or religious preference, to list a few examples." (emphasis ours) The Blizzard post points out that the policy is in place to help limit in-game harrassment, and that the Guild Recruitment forum still serves as "an open avenue" for such posts.

Caydiem promised to revise Blizzard's official game policy in order to "help avoid such confusion in the future." But that seems to be of little comfort to some dedicated players, some of who are loudly questioning the move in the official World of Warcraft forums.

The controversy also addresses subjects that, until this time, have largely flown under the media's radar. Aside from politics, religion, and sexuality, what other topics are prohibited in Blizzard's chat areas? How far will Blizzard go to discourage real-life topics from being presented in what may be the most popular online game in the world?

We've requested further clarification from Blizzard on their position. Stay tuned.

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