Chasing Rainbows? Neo-Victorianism and Queer Identities in Wilde-Inspired Indie Video Games

The primary aim of my proposed twenty- or fifteen-minute presentation is to provide fresh insight into the representation of queerness in video games by cross-pollinating queer game studies (Ruberg and Shaw 2017) with queer neo-Victorian studies (Koegler and Tronicke 2020; Hueso Vasallo 2024). Admittedly, whether adopting a holistic approach or discussing specific titles and series, critical examinations of heteronormative assumptions and queer (under)representation within video games have played a crucial role in the emergence of queer game studies and continue to contribute to its expansion (see, e.g., Consalvo 2003; Lauteria 2011; Harper, Adams and Taylor 2018; Shaw et al. 2019; Ho, Escobar and Tran 2022; Austin 2024, esp. 465–69; Root-Williams, Kessner and Bernier 2024). Yet, the remit of this relatively new field of study may not be restricted to the analysis of the presence/absence of queer in-game content (Ruberg 2019b). In fact, previous research has not only highlighted instances of heterosexist resistance to the presence of queer identities in mainstream games (Condis 2014), but it has also rightly pointed to ‘potential pitfalls in representation’ in indie game development, such as the ‘ghettoization of [queer] content’ (Shaw 2009, 248; see also Ruberg 2019a and Ouellette 2024, 194–95). Ruberg and Phillips (2018) have, more radically, encouraged us to call into question the very desirability of game ‘representation and inclusion’ as ‘goals’ for the queer community. Rather than ‘move beyond representation’ (Ruberg and Phillips 2018), however, my proposed contribution seeks to join the collective effort to chart the current landscape of the field of inquiry by evaluating the potential and limitations of neo-Victorian queerness in indie video games. In particular, I aim to explore the understudied influence of a queer icon like Oscar Wilde on the video game medium. While also briefly considering Wilde’s presence in several other titles, I plan to analyse the multilayered construction of queer identities in one or two recent examples of Wilde-inspired games, that is to say, ‘OscarWildeCard’ (Up Multimedia 2023) and ‘The Secret Life of Dorian Pink’ (AmberLimShin 2023). On the one hand, I will attempt to unpick the ideological intricacies embedded in the creative strategies of different developers appropriating and reinterpreting a popular icon of Victorian queerness like Wilde. On the other hand, I will also try to address compelling questions concerning cultural inclusion/exclusion and linguistic accessibility, which, I would argue, merit serious consideration, especially if we are willing to suggest that collective efforts towards wider and more nuanced representations of ‘the full breadth of the rainbow’ (Wright 2013) may be regarded as (one of) the way(s) forward for the field as well as the industry