Campaign for Wrexual Relations

In November of 2007, Bioware released Mass Effect, a video game based in an expansive and detailed universe, replete with interesting characters and intrigue. In the pursuit of an immersive and "realistic" fictional world, oft-elusive to game developers, Bioware chose to tackle the issue of sex. This issue is a daily, important one for people around the globe, and Bioware knew it would be impossible to craft a universe that chose to ignore sex and still maintain a level of true plausibility. They gave assurances, and even advertised, that the subject would be handled maturely.

 It was not.

Sex has rarely been portrayed in video games in a mature, adult manner. Usually slapped in for the boost in advertising sales, it has led many to wonder if the video game industry is even capable of maturity when it comes to sex. Bioware had the opportunity to prove to the international community as a whole that games could include sex in a meaningful, productive fashion. They advertised not only heterosexual encounters, but homosexual and even inter-species opportunities. A bold challenge to the accepting nature of humanity, Bioware could have presented to mankind the idea that in the future, such barriers might be meaningless, and that humanity would eventually move beyond its arbitrary prejudices.

What Bioware actually produced was racy sexual imagery and stimuli. Homosexuality and inter-species relations were thrown in as a naughty aside, with the issues they represented barely addressed. Furthermore, your choices in sexual partners were limited to only attractive subordinates, largely on your own ship. It became a sort of dating game, with the eventual goal being a short-lived scene and then barely a mention thereafter. Bioware advertised unconventional sex to sell the game, and people bought it to see unconventional sex.

We aim to petition Bioware to patch its game, a simple addition that will go a long way towards correcting the mistakes the company has made. It represents a chance to redeem itself after shamelessly taking advantage of an undersexed market.

There is a character in Mass Effect. He is a massive, gruff lizard-man that is a subordinate only in name, more like a partner or ally in reality. His race suffers under the effects of a biological weapon that results in 99.9% of pregnancies ending in stillbirth, so sex is already relevant to this personality. A sexual encounter with this character, Urdnot Wrex by name, could address all issues at once. Whether homosexual or heterosexual, either option possesses unique narrative opportunities.

These opportunities, such as the difficulties that inter-species relationships face, could not have been overlooked by a company aiming to address today's sexual issues. A meaningful relationship, slow but steadily increasing in intensity, culminating in sexual relations, would allow Bioware to show that sex isn't always about who is hot-or-not, but can be about emotional attachment and bonding, and that all the arbitrary barriers mankind has placed upon itself in the past are mistakes.

In doing so, Bioware can demonstrate the video game industry's capacity to handle the subject of sex in a mature, tasteful fashion; that sex can contribute to a narrative and make us think, instead of simply being a cheap thrill to earn a few extra dollars for the corporate machine.