Abstract
- The Trevor Challenge and the Gaming Security workforce are partnering to create a safer, extra inclusive gaming group.
- Discover Video games Curated by LGBTQIA+ Communities at Microsoft.
- Uncover Pleasure Gear.
Video games is usually a highly effective medium to specific and discover one’s identification in a artistic and protected surroundings. Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind permits gamers to romance and marry characters no matter their gender. Overwatch options overtly LGBTQIA+ characters, similar to Tracer, who’s heroic, sturdy, and prominently featured within the sport. Inform Me Why tells the story of Tyler, a transgender man, with sensitivity and depth. Video games is usually a highly effective method to discover identities throughout the security of artistic play whereas enabling all gamers to expertise new views which may be completely different from their very own.
This Pleasure month, we invite you to hitch us on this journey of studying, rising, and thriving. Gaming is for everybody, and collectively, we will work in the direction of making a gaming group that’s welcoming to everybody and is inclusive of individuals with a variety of views, experiences, and backgrounds. That significant work is achieved by way of folks impacting others by way of training, appreciating the lived experiences of others and constructing empathy with members of the LGBTQIA+ group.
We imagine it’s necessary to assist organizations that uplift, empower, and handle the wants of the LGBTQIA+ group. Within the final 30 years, along with our workers, Microsoft has donated over $16M to organizations that assist the LGBTQIA+ group, and within the final 12 months alone, we donated over $1.3M. This 12 months Xbox, together with Microsoft, is thrilled to proceed these efforts with a $200K contribution to a number of organizations supporting the LGBQTIA+ group to assist encourage conversations, rally group actions, and empower folks to share their Pleasure.
Moreover, Xbox Sport Studios Publishing is proud to proceed partnering with GLAAD to provide extra inclusive video games from conception to design to growth. Xbox is partnering with The Trevor Challenge to assist join LGBTQIA+ gamers with invaluable assets that assist assist well-being and security as they play throughout the Xbox group. Each participant has a singular story, and we sit up for future initiatives the place folks throughout the rainbow spectrum could expertise the identical empowerment. Learn on to be taught extra about how we’re celebrating the LGBTQIA+ group this month and past:
Spotlighting Xbox’s partnership with The Trevor Challenge
![Three people in cartoon style sitting at a table with phones, a book, and a laptop.](https://xxboxnews.blob.core.windows.net/prod/sites/2/2024/05/TTP_Illustrations_People_Scenes_06CallChatText_horizontal-074ca77efd7c21e0060d.jpg)
Gaming has lengthy been a supply of enjoyable, group, and self-expression for the LGBTQIA+ group. In keeping with GLAAD, LGBTQIA+ players are 24% extra seemingly to make use of gaming as a assist to assist get them by way of robust occasions – with 66% of LGBTQIA+ gamers sharing that gaming permits them to specific themselves in a manner they don’t really feel snug doing in the actual world.
This impression just isn’t misplaced on us. At Xbox, we’re dedicated to creating gaming experiences which can be welcoming for all gamers, and that features offering a protected and inclusive area the place everybody may be their genuine selves.
That’s why we’re proud to highlight Xbox’s standing partnership with The Trevor Challenge, a U.S. nonprofit that gives lifesaving and life-affirming companies to LGBTQIA+ younger folks. Since 2019, Xbox and its security groups have been partnering with The Trevor Challenge to attach gamers with assets to assist their well-being and guarantee they really feel protected and welcome once they play on Xbox.
For us, it’s necessary gamers really feel protected. Our ongoing partnership with The Trevor Challenge is a technique for us to do this. Extra data on how Xbox helps participant’s well-being may be discovered right here.
Within the spirit of Pleasure, we wish to share the next security ideas to assist gamers get essentially the most out of their gaming expertise:
- Discover your person settings. Xbox provides settings that enable gamers selection in how they play. Gamers can choose whether or not to make their associates record seen, select to obtain messages from individuals who aren’t associates, or block content material they don’t want to view.
- Take consolation in figuring out Xbox has your again. To assist the broader player-base and LGBTQIA+ group, we take participant security critically. This contains:
- In-game reporting instruments to assist gamers flag problems with inappropriate habits or content material. Xbox invests in 24/7 protection globally to assist reply to and examine experiences.
- Moderation instruments that work throughout textual content, photos video and voice, to dam dangerous content material earlier than it reaches gamers.
- Entry to automated textual content filters, which empowers gamers to customise their gaming expertise and determine what content material just isn’t okay to obtain – these filters mechanically block content material earlier than it reaches the participant.
- Persevering with to create proactive measures to dam hate speech and put money into applied sciences to assist average probably poisonous communications, whereas permitting particular person expression.
Gaming and Influence with Rewards with Xbox
Rewards members in the US can earn and donate factors to organizations supporting LGBTQIA+ communities with Xbox. The organizations beneath will probably be out there on the Rewards hub:
- GLAAD: Based in 1985, GLAAD – the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy group – works with tv, movie, video video games, Spanish-language media, journalists, and social media to inform tales and seek the advice of on LGBTQ media illustration. GLAAD tackles robust points and provokes dialogue that results in cultural change by way of elevated media accountability, public campaigns, company engagement initiatives, and advocacy applications that assist to make sure 100% inclusion and acceptance of the LGBTQ group. (US)
- Outright Worldwide: Outright Worldwide is devoted to working with companions across the globe to strengthen the capability of the lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) human rights motion, doc and amplify human rights violations towards LGBTIQ folks, and advocate for inclusion and equality. (US)
- Nationwide Heart for Transgender Equality: The Nationwide Heart for Transgender Equality (NCTE) advocates to alter insurance policies and society to extend understanding and acceptance of transgender and non-binary folks. Within the nation’s capital and all through the nation, NCTE works to interchange disrespect, discrimination, and violence with empathy, alternative, and justice. (US)
Xbox gamers can earn Rewards factors in varied methods, similar to taking part in video games, finishing Sport Move Quests, and buying video games and different eligible gadgets on the Microsoft Retailer (exclusions apply). Begin incomes right now and redeem your factors for excellent rewards. Donate your factors on the Rewards hub or on the Rewards redeem web page.
Inform Me Why Out there for Free in June on Xbox Consoles, Microsoft Retailer, and Steam!
![Michael, a young man wearing a beige knitted sweater, walks next to Tyler and Alyson Ronan in a snowy residential area.](https://xxboxnews.blob.core.windows.net/prod/sites/2/2024/05/tell-me-why_michael-twins-walking-e29784badcf46b761afc.jpg)
Inform Me Why, the award-winning narrative journey from Don’t Nod Leisure and Xbox Sport Studios Publishing, will probably be out there free of charge on Xbox consoles, Home windows PC, and Steam for the complete month of June 2024. As in previous years, the Inform Me Why workforce encourages gamers to present what they might have spent on Inform Me Why to an unbiased trans creator or a trans-inclusive charity of their group.
Discover Video games Curated by LGBTQIA+ Communities at Microsoft
![A compilation image featuring game box art for Need for Speed Unbound, Starfield, Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical, The Quarry, and The Bed We Made on a background including the Xbox Sphere styled in recognition for Pride featuring a rainbow sky, castle, and various pride flags.](https://xxboxnews.blob.core.windows.net/prod/sites/2/2024/05/PRIDE-FY24-For-Xbox-Wire-EN-1920x1080-1-cd81f8d69b57ebd343dc.jpg)
Xbox invitations you to play with pleasure.
Throughout June and past, try a wide range of sport collections that showcase LGBTQIA+ creators, lead characters, and video games with inclusive gender and relationship choices. Out there on the Microsoft Shops on Xbox and Home windows, try the transgender and non-binary group video games assortment and the LGBTQIA+ group video games assortment. These collections will exist year-round as a part of our ongoing work to create extra inclusive gaming ecosystems and elevate content material that resonates with communities. For Xbox Sport Move members, discover what video games can be found to play within the Xbox Sport Move assortment and the PC Sport Move assortment.
Featured titles throughout the collections embrace:
Want for Velocity Unbound (Out there with Xbox Sport Move Final on Console, PC, and Cloud) – Want for Velocity Unbound’s character creator permits for a number of gender expressions by way of clothes, hair, and voice choices that aren’t restricted to the gender binary. The sport additionally options racing rival, Justicia, a trans lady voiced by trans actress, Sena Bryer, along with together with LGBTQIA+ iconography within the streets and as decals in your automobiles.
Starfield (Out there with Xbox Sport Move on Console, PC, and Cloud) – On this role-playing sport set amongst the celebs, create any character you need and discover with unparalleled freedom as you embark on an epic journey. Starfield boasts a powerful character creation instrument with a number of physique varieties, pores and skin tones, hairstyles, non-gendered options, and so they/them pronoun choices. Exploration choices embrace pursuing romantic relationships no matter gender.
Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (Out there on Console) – Play as star and stagehand as you identify the story by way of dialog and tune on this online game for musical lovers. Written by the enduring and overtly homosexual narrative designer, David Gaider, you’ll craft not solely a singular narrative, however a soundtrack to your personal musical expertise primarily based in your selections. Forge your personal story and determine who to romance.
The Quarry (Out there with Xbox Sport Move on Console and Cloud) – Play solo or in a bunch of associates as any of 9 camp counselors on this thrilling cinematic expertise that leads down a tangled internet of potentialities primarily based in your selections. Take pleasure in an evening of enjoyable earlier than a celebration rapidly turns into an unpredictable night time of horror and your relationships are examined by unimaginable life-or-death choices.
This Mattress We Made (Out there on Console) – Chloe Lussier, CEO and co-founder of Lowbirth Video games, needs to inform impactful tales that function unconventional heroes. Set within the Fifties, the story that unfolds in This Mattress We Made is tied to actual historical past when being a member of the LGBTQIA+ group was criminalized. Step into the position of Sophie, an indiscreet chambermaid at a resort crammed with secrets and techniques, on this third-person thriller narrative sport that explores the lengths folks have needed to go to pursue loving relationships as their genuine self.
Rejoice Pleasure in Forza Horizon 5
![Screenshot from Forza Horizon 5 shows players in a group of colorful cars cruising through a narrow curving street in the city of Guanajuato, Mexico.](https://xxboxnews.blob.core.windows.net/prod/sites/2/2024/05/ForzaHorizon5_Launch_Review-02_16x9_WM-d30bd815b6ffd22df5e8-scaled.jpg)
This 12 months’s Pleasure-themed Xbox artwork will probably be added to Forza Horizon 5 as a vinyl: an in-game decal that you need to use to customise any automobile. Showcase this distinctive design in your automobile utilizing #ForzaRainbow on social media for an opportunity to be featured! (The vinyl will probably be out there beginning June 7 from the Forza Horizon accounts on Instagram and X.)
Overwatch 2 Celebrates Pleasure with In-Sport Map and Calling All Heroes
![Heroes Lifeweaver, Tracer, and Venture standing in front of a Pride rainbow](https://xxboxnews.blob.core.windows.net/prod/sites/2/2024/05/Pride24_BlogHeader_Version2_KAP-5434b466cada603989f7.jpg)
Overwatch 2 celebrates Pleasure this month with the return of a fan-favorite map and Calling All Heroes. All month lengthy, the Pleasure pageant returns to Overwatch 2’s Midtown map. Gamers can sit up for taking part in on this map as they queue for Unranked and Aggressive video games and immediately in a devoted play card on the Arcade. Calling All Heroes is Overwatch 2’s aggressive Esports collection that gives an inclusive surroundings to aspiring rivals of marginalized genders, together with those that current themselves as Trans, Non-Binary, and Genderqueer. This competitors returned final weekend, and everybody who tunes in at twitch.television/ow_esports will be capable to earn new drops like the brand new Monarch Enterprise pores and skin.
Xbox Gear Store
![Xbox Gear Shop Pride 2024 Collection GIF showcasing various Pride t-shirts.](https://xxboxnews.blob.core.windows.net/prod/sites/2/2024/05/xbox-pride-2024-1920x1080-1-8c6bd1f3fe9f67ad5b59.gif)
Present your love and assist for Pleasure 2024 with our new limited-edition t-shirts, hoodies and extra – designed by and with the LGBTQIA+ communities. Get your Pleasure gear now!
![Two people wearing the 2024 Blizzard Pride Collection apparel](https://xxboxnews.blob.core.windows.net/prod/sites/2/2024/05/041924-BGS-Pride-2024-1920x1080-1-893a9ae44342f4b3afb1.jpg)
Rejoice Pleasure with the brand new 2024 Pleasure Assortment completely on the Blizzard Gear Retailer! Led by way of the Blizzard LGBT+ Worker Community, the Blizzard Pleasure Assortment options Pleasure-themed attire benefitting The Trevor Challenge from Might 15 by way of June 30, 2024.
Discover Xbox’s Kingdom of Coloration
![A custom rainbow Xbox sphere with a castle showcasing various Pride flags.](https://xxboxnews.blob.core.windows.net/prod/sites/2/2024/05/Xbox_Pride_Sphere-bf85e8b59a87885ddf5c.png)
In celebration of Pleasure, the Xbox brand was reimagined as a crystal radiating with energy on the prime of a magic employees. The storybook-inspired picture additionally features a citadel with festive rainbow banners and fireworks. The artist, who’s a part of the LGBTQIA+ group, imagines the Kingdom of Coloration as a spot the place individuals who establish as LGBTQIA+ rule and the magic of Pleasure is unfold to each nook of the realm. Proper from the pages of a leather-bound e book crammed with colourful artwork and calligraphy textual content, this picture evokes not solely acquainted tales of dragons, knights, and wizards, however launches these tales right into a extra inclusive future wherein all gamers discover their magic.
Xbox Ambassadors Rejoice Pleasure 2024
![White Xbox controller icon with white laurels surrounding it layers over a blurred rainbow background](https://xxboxnews.blob.core.windows.net/prod/sites/2/2024/05/XA-Logo-with-Blurred-Rainbow-1920x1080-1-5bedb92863848691d474.jpg)
The Xbox Ambassadors Program is celebrating Pleasure by spotlighting members of the Xbox Ambassadors group who responded to a latest survey about their experiences as players. Learn the Xbox Ambassadors weblog to listen to group members sharing their favourite recollections taking part in video video games, recommending video games that do job representing LGBTQIA+ folks and experiences, and providing tips about keep protected when gaming on-line.
Pleasure Dynamic Background and Wallpaper Out there Now
The Pleasure Month Xbox design is offered right now as an Xbox wallpaper and dynamic background on console – observe these steps to use the dynamic background:
- Press the Xbox button in your controller to open the information.
- Choose Profile & system > Settings > Common > Personalization > My background > Dynamic backgrounds.
You’ll be able to select between Video games, Xbox, or Summary dynamic backgrounds. Select the background artwork that you really want with the A button.
Radical Pleasure with Microsoft
Within the face of adversity, existence itself may be resistance and spark change. This Pleasure, LGBTQIA+ folks at Microsoft share the that means of pleasure and invite everybody to unfold acceptance, abundance, and concord in all places. Be part of us and uncover extra at Microsoft.com/pleasure.