Hello! Eurogamer’s week of features celebrating the intersection of queer culture and gaming continues today as Ed Nightingale examines the importance of chosen family, as seen through the eyes of Final Fantasy 14‘s thriving LGBTQIA+ community. To catch up on everything you might have missed this year and in Pride Weeks past, you can visit our Pride Week hub.
As a lifelong Final Fantasy fan, I – like many queer players – have always been fascinated by the series’ distinct fantasy realms and their colourful casts of spiky-haired, magical, occasionally cross-dressing, and sometimes wonderfully non-human characters. It’s surprising, really, it took until the sixteenth mainline game for Square Enix to include the series’ first gay kiss.
Final Fantasy 14, Square Enix‘s long-running MMORPG, is no different. Its stories and characters have consumed me for hours, despite the fact I primarily play on my own, focusing on the story uninterrupted by a distracting chat box, and not – as the genre would dictate – in multiplayer sessions with others.
That’s why, when I was lucky enough to attend the Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest events in Las Vegas and London in 2023, I was struck by the diversity and kindness of the game’s community. These regular community events, which I described as being like a “theme park for its passionate community”, are where the developers reveal more about forthcoming expansions and updates, and provide players with a place to meet one another in real life. The fan walls were littered with endearing messages, while cosplayers of all sorts attracted awe, and Free Companies (the game’s equivalent to player guilds) hung out in person. It’s this kind of tight-knit community vibe that’s simply an extension of the game itself.
Since its beginnings in 2010, Final Fantasy 14 has attracted a strong community of queer players who have found support in others through the MMORPG. Players have met queer friends, discovered an in-game world where they can be themselves, and found a chosen family. Now I’m fully caught up on the story of latest expansion Dawntrail, I wanted to learn more about the game’s queer community.
“The best part of it, to me, is that it’s not something that anyone makes a big deal about, it just is,” says Tamriel Mom, not only the mother of a trans child but the self-described “internet mum” of a group of Final Fantasy 14 players. “I’ve been playing for over a year and have found the community… to be one of the most friendly, inclusive and ‘roll with the punches’ groups I have ever seen. Which is rare as hen’s teeth in the MMO community.”
Final Fantasy 14 has frequently been compared to World of Warcraft, its key MMORPG competition. Where WoW players have found toxicity, especially newcomers, Final Fantasy 14 has welcomed players with open arms – aiding newcomers with tips and assistance in the game’s chat function.
Many players join a Free Company (FC) to find friendship and community, which can extend outside of the game too. Rebecca runs a queer-centric FC to “nurture queer and trans joy openly while playing”. “I’ve made lifelong friends since then who I’ve met in person,” she says, “and while some of us are inactive in the game at the moment, we still share a discord server together.”
Another player, Rivers, is quite new to the game but plays with their gay brother in his LGBT+ FC. “Everyone is super friendly and with everyone being so open I don’t feel much of a need to hide myself either or be wary of whom I tell about myself,” they say.
“I don’t feel much of a need to hide myself either or be wary of whom I tell about myself.”
Kae has been playing Final Fantasy 14 for years and has remained in the same FC since the start. “The FC was diverse and welcoming to everyone and anyone, which on paper can be difficult to actually pull off, but somehow they did it,” they say. “We have people of all nationalities, genders, sexualities, etc., and a lot of us couldn’t be more different but that is how we somehow connect.
“When the world has become so turbulent, we have managed to become a family who look after one another, who never remain indifferent to what’s happening in the world, but offer each other a space where we can all be whoever we want to be together, and offer escape.”
Kae suffered a medical emergency earlier this year, meaning real-life friendships have become difficult. However, their “Final Fantasy 14 family” has been able to support both in and out of the game. “It has been so important that they’ve been there for me making things as normal as possible when such huge changes happened to me,” says Kae. “They still continue to make sure we can all hang out together as normal, and I cannot stress how important that is and how I have never experienced anything like it in any other online community before.”
Others have spoken of finding communities of like-minded players, finding gender affirmation and identity, and making strong friendships that have lasted a decade since the game was released. “I had to move to a secluded area in real life with little to no queer people around,” says Sasha, who has over 8000 hours in the game. “Having a queer community in my comfort video game helps a lot with feeling included, seen and understood, and in making friends who relate to my experience, who I can share that with.”
“The game’s community has always felt welcoming to LGBT people,” he continues, “and all of the [regular players] I’ve been with for Savage and Ultimate raiding were open-minded and very chill about my gender identity, despite it being hard to understand for cishet players I sometimes [teamed up] with. It helped me gain confidence and I’m never scared of coming out in new groups, making sure people get the pronouns right, and I’m very comfortable with who I am right now thanks to how open-minded the game’s community is.”
So what is it about Final Fantasy 14 that’s attracted such a queer and friendly community?
“It’s a game that really leans into the notion that you can be anything and anyone you want to be and with the community around the game already being so friendly and helpful, it really lets queer people express themselves how they want without feeling judged,” says Rebecca.
While Final Fantasy 14 includes very few openly queer characters (although fans have their theories), the game’s narrative sees the disparate and diverse in-game races putting aside their differences and joining forces to protect the fate of Eorzea. Players have followed suit.
“It really lets queer people express themselves how they want without feeling judged.”
Zaydro met his best friend of 10 years playing Final Fantasy 14. He points to the fantastical nature of the game as attractive to the queer community. “I think queer people in general enjoy the escapism and high fantasy that the series provides,” he says, “having a second life that gives you a space where you belong helps fill the craving that sadly many LGBTQIA+ struggle to find in reality, where they can be themselves, meet people with the same struggles and hobbies, and create a version of themselves that match more what they want to be, not what their environment forces them to be.”
Other players appreciate the ability to create their own character – and perhaps even form a new identity. “When we create our Warriors of Light, everyone does it differently,” explains Kae. Some players create an accurate version of themselves, while others create more fantastical or aspirational characters. “The journey that our Warriors of Light are on makes us even more invested in them, makes us identify more with the world of Eorzea in a special way that I haven’t experienced in another game,” says Kae. “Eorzea somehow gives us a way to be free and connect in a way that we don’t in real life, or in other games.”
Rivers also points to trans voice actor Sena Bryer, who plays Wuk Lamat in latest expansion Dawntrail, as welcome and necessary representation. Bryer received transphobic abuse following her portrayal of the character, which the game’s director and producer Naoki Yoshida said “breaks my heart”.
“I’m afraid one of our staff members received very negative comments and it almost felt like a personal attack, which breaks my heart, because she worked really hard and these criticisms were not constructive at all,” said Yoshida last year.
Still, as a long-running MMORPG in such a celebrated series, it’s clear Final Fantasy 14 has become a special example of a video game with a strong queer community that’s bonded over the past decade. As one anonymous player puts it, “It’s one of the only places I have ever been able to feel myself. I am so thankful for this game.”
As a predominantly solo player I can’t help but feel I’m missing out on a core part of the experience for so many members of the game’s community. Hearing these stories from other players, though, I’m confident there’s still a place for me – and indeed everyone – in this warm and accepting online world.
