In an industry where decapitation and mutilation is a mainstay, as well as language that would cause your grandmother to suffer a stroke, one taboo remains…Sex. Much like television and film, nudity and the subject of intercourse remains a largely unexplored territory for viewers and gamers alike. Where restrictions on language and violence have lessened over the years, sexual content has continued to walk a very thin line in an effort to find its place within popular media. On a recent episode of the popular Sitcom “30 Rock,” Tracy Morgan’s character, Tracy Jordan, schemes and subsequently succeeds at the creation of the world’s first porn video game, Gorgasim: The Legend of the Dong Slayer. While the title is as equally awesome as it is absurd, it raises a few good questions (which is the mark of good satire) about the possibilities and inherent hindrances to a game like Gorgasim becoming reality.

While video games have had a long and storied history with sexual content (I’m looking at you Custer’s Revenge) the possibility of a purely pornographic or even one that pushes the boundaries of social acceptability is very unlikely to happen. While nothing is stopping a major publisher from tackling such subject matter, the numerous strikes against such a project from day one are enough for any company that wishes to remain profitable to shy away from. With the media backlash, publishing and licensing difficulties, financial costs, as well as the maturity of the industry itself, the concept of a porn video game will have to be one that remains in the mind of Tracy Jordan forever.

Media backlash remains one of the largest roadblocks to the expansion of sexual content in video games today. With the fallout caused by Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and it’s “Hot Coffee” mod as well as the recent Mass Effect sex scene scandal it seems as if the mass media is not ready to accept sex in video games. While the often seen Fox News debate between Geoff Keighley and Cooper Lawrence provides the evidence of how uninformed and backwards much of the mass media holds in regards to video games, it is still an opinion that millions of Americans tune in and listen to. Following with the popular opinion, the Fox News debate incorrectly pegs the average gamer as children and teenagers when, according to a 2008 market report from IBISWorld, the average gamer is actually around 35 years in age. This common misconception will continue to be represented as a fact simply from the stigma of immaturity that is often associated with video games.

Another pitfall surrounding the potential release of a game with excessive sexual content would be trying to find a publisher, and a platform holder willing to license the game for distribution. With the PC being the only exception, platform holders (Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft) have the final say in the games that are put on their systems through licensing agreements, all which retain policies of not licensing AO (Adults Only) rated games on their systems’. In addition to the lack of licensing for home consoles, a large majority of retailers have policies against stocking AO rated games, making digital distribution on the PC the only viable option. Without the licensing agreements developers would be free to release “Unrated” versions, much like the film industry, and would be able to circumvent the ESRB rating all together.

The difficulties in finding a publisher stem predominantly from the bottom line: A porn video game would not turn a profit. With the PC being the only distribution method a publisher would be unwilling to put their time and effort into marketing and distributing a game that has no chance to succeed in the broad consumer market. With digital distribution really coming into its own, the possibility for a game to be self-published remains an option for developers, yet would still present an uphill battle to sell copies. In other territories, predominantly in Japan, Ero-Games find moderate success often being released in the form of visual novels (In laymen’s terms a RPG without battling), which are licensed by the CERO ratings that differ on the classification of explicit sexual content then the ESRB.

A game like Gears of War shows the evolution of violence as both a visceral experience and the changing moral expectations that take place on an almost game-to-game basis. While recent games, with the exception of Mass Effect, seem to use Sex as simply a funny diversion in an experience that is often disjointed from the main game i.e. God Of War. Without major developers like Bioware treating sex as a cohesive and meaningful part of an experience, the perception of video games as a child’s toy will continue.

With so many factors being leveled against the creation of a ‘good” porn video game it is possible that the genre will never materialize; yet it always remains a possibility. In the 35 years since George Carlin was arrested for his performance of the “7 Dirty Words” routine, 3 out of 7 of these dirty words have been heard network television as an almost common occurrence. The moral compass of the United States has the ability to sway, but only through the continued efforts by daring developers’ will a change occur. Until that day comes Gargasim will remain a dream…A Sexy Sexy Dream.

-Eric Wall

Tags: AO, featured, Game Design, Game Industry, Predictions, sex in games

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