Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the hottest PC titles of the year, and no, I’m not talking about its deep, immersive gameplay, expansive narrative, or many dialogue options—the game is unabashedly sexual. But sex isn’t new to video games, so why is Baldur’s Gate 3 enjoying so much positive attention for it? (Beyond the infamous bear video, that is.)
It’s simple: Baldur’s Gate 3 does sex right in a medium that has handled sex poorly for decades. Chalk it up to ignorance or a lack of maturity in the industry, but video game sex has been many things—at worst, exploitive and voyeuristic, and at best, clumsy and misguided. However, Baldur’s Gate 3 has sex scenes that are sometimes romantic, sensual, funny, and even downright weird—much like real life. It’s a game changer that moves beyond the shameful depictions that have frequently popped up throughout video game history.
The Earliest Naughty Games
Just like sex in real life, sex in video games has been around since the very beginning, though back then it was handled with little grace. In 1981, the fledgling industry enjoyed one of its first adult-oriented releases, the aptly titled Softporn Adventure for the Apple II. Published by On-line Systems (a company that would later become Sierra Online, and then Sierra Entertainment), the text-based adventure game tasked you with impressing beautiful women in hopes of sleeping with them.
Although mostly tame by today’s standards, the pre-internet smut found an audience, though with mixed opinions. Even 1980s-era critics found fault in its sexist undertones. A review featured in the January 1982 issue of Softline, a magazine that mainly focused on the Apple II, noted that Softporn Adventure “reinforces the notion that all computer freaks are emotionally underdeveloped high school and college boys.”
Controversy aside, Softporn Adventure proved a minor success and found itself remade and reintroduced in 1987 as Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards. Reimagined as a graphic adventure game, the new release’s plot and overall objective were the same.
It was a success. The game was praised for its lowbrow humor, creative animations, detailed visuals, and point-and-click gameplay. It even won the award for Best Adventure or Fantasy/Role-Playing Program from the Software Publishers Association. However, many critics once again bemoaned its shallow depictions of women, an unfortunate byproduct of an industry full of primarily straight men. It haunted the industry for years, producing numerous sequels.
From GTA’s Hot Coffee to Cyberpunk 2077
Sex continued to be a taboo subject in video games into the 1990s and early aughts, though it was mostly regulated to marketing. Publishers used titillating ads to sell Dead or Alive or Tomb Raider, even if the releases were far removed from actual hanky panky. Grand Theft Auto was the most popular series to feature sex, allowing you to sleep with sex workers to recover your health. Although the act was audible, it wasn’t visual. At least not until the modding community discovered the “Hot Coffee” mini-game buried in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’ code, which resulted in the United States House of Representatives launching an FTC investigation into Take-Two and Rockstar Games. San Andreas was pulled from some store shelves and given an Adults Only rating. Later, it was rereleased without the Hot Coffee mini-game.
It was clear that people were interested in the act, even if attempts to gamify sex were handled with the subtlety of a Pornhub ad. Sex and romance continued to find their way into many games over the next decade. Dragon Age, Cyberpunk 2077, and Mass Effects are RPGs that took steps toward inclusivity by including LGBTQ romance options. Cyberpunk 2077 even lets you create non-binary or trans characters. But despite the progress, the deed itself was often left off the table.
In Dragon Age and Mass Effect, characters kiss and caress but the screen often cuts to black before things get too spicy. Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 let scenes play out in fast-paced montages, giving you glimpses of the action, but they leave a lot to the imagination. Even worse, romanceable NPCs are sometimes tied to your created character’s gender, which prevents you from exploring certain relationships.
Whether they were afraid to draw controversy or ill-equipped to handle it, developers still hadn’t showcased sex in a meaningful way. And that’s where Larian Studios pivots from the past with Baldur’s Gate 3.
(Video Game) Romance Isn’t Dead
Even if you haven’t played Baldur’s Gate 3, it’s no secret that the game’s developers have no qualms about exploring mature matters. Yet it doesn’t feel as edgy as Cyberpunk or as prudish as Mass Effect. Lust and romance are key parts of Baldur’s Gate 3’s immersive narrative, and someone at Larian Studios had the forethought to work with trained intimacy coordinators to direct the game’s many sex scenes, which gives them a more realistic pace and plotting.
According to SAG-AFTRA, and intimacy coordinator is “an advocate, a liaison between actors and production, and a movement coach and/or choreographer in regards to nudity and simulated sex and other intimate and hyper-exposed scenes.” Often used in Hollywood, Larian claims it’s the first studio to use coordinators in a fully rendered video game. (Last year’s Immortality used intimacy coordinators for its live-action scenes.)
Jennifer English, who voiced Shadowheart, was relieved to work with intimacy coordinators. “I never felt ‘yuck’ in a recording session at all,” English said in a BBC interview. “And I’ve got quite a low ‘yuck’ threshold.”
Baldur’s Gate 3 gives you dialogue options before, during, and after the deed, and makes you reckon with the results. If you cheat on your partner, for example, you’ll get chewed out for it—unless they’re into that. If you decide that you’re not into your party member’s advances, you can cool the flames and remove yourself from the situation.
Your choices color the experience. After a companion character named Lae’zel told me to close my eyes and follow her lead, I pushed back. She silently smirked as my character made his move. In another playthrough, I submitted to her, which changed how events played out. On the flip side, I kicked Astarion, another companion, below the belt, which ruined the moment and prompted him to leave my party. It’s all about choice, isn’t it?
Baldur’s Gate 3 also doesn’t shy away from being inclusive in its romance. You can create trans and non-binary characters and participate in gay, straight, and otherworldly romances without limitations. In an even rarer instance, polyamorous relationships between you and other party members are available, too. Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t afraid to let you love as you see fit.
The aforementioned bear clip that features Astarion and the shapeshifting Halsin went viral. It got Larian Studios temporarily banned from TikTok and piqued the interest of many players who had not heard of the RPG. Since its release, Baldur’s Gate 3 has crushed Steam records with a concurrent player count of 875,343, putting in the top ten most popular Steam games—an unprecedented feat for a mostly single-player RPG.
Loving Your Way
Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t one of the best games of the year simply due to its rich gameplay and narrative that rewards player creativity. It also shines in its effort to be inclusive. For the first time in a long time, it’s a video game that gets sex right.
Video games are an important medium, as well as a unique one. We’ve been able to tell deep, touching stories, as well as wild adventures that rival just about any blockbuster movie—so it’s only natural that the medium reckons with its unsexy past. I’m not calling for sex in every video game, mind you. But it’s comforting to know that when the situation calls for a sexual situation, there’s now precedence for a game that does it well. Inclusivity will only allow the industry to grow, reach more people, and tell greater stories. Baldur’s Gate 3’s success is a step in that direction.
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