Michael Lyons
- Role: Writer
- Location: Toronto, ON
We chatted with Michael Lyons, writer on games such as LongStory and The Last Taxi.
QRM: Can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do in the games industry?
Michael: I'm a Toronto-based writer, journalist and game maker. I've been a freelance arts and culture journalist for about seven years, including a long-standing column on lesser-known LGBTQ history, called History Boys. In terms of the games industry, I've mostly been contributing words in narrative!
QRM: How long have you been involved in the game industry, and what projects have you worked on? What are you working on currently?
Michael: Over the past couple of years I've started contributing narrative to games, LongStory and The Last Taxi are the biggest projects I've worked on, although I also had some contributions in an instalment of a modern day superhero RPG called AMP: Year Three. LongStory is wrapping its current season and launching on Steam soon, which is really exciting! My last contribution to that is a "LongStory ShortStory", a little epilogue story for one of the characters that'll be launching on the Steam build. The Last Taxi, as well, is currently working on building the initial demo, which has a couple of characters I wrote, but they're out of my hands for now!
QRM: What inspired you to get started in the games industry?
Michael: I'm a lifelong gamer—apparently I asked for an original Nintendo at the age of three—but I never imagined I would be involved in making them. In 2015 I attended the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco to research for my Master’s thesis, which was about queer and trans representation in the industry. Coincidentally, I'd seen a callout for writers to join the LongStory team, and I was a fan of the game but didn't even consider applying until I attended a panel that was something like, "industry newcomers, ask any question you want." None of the panellists—industry veterans—had studied video games. I went back to the place I was staying in San Francisco, wrote a quick application and sample, and low and behold, here I am now, what I hope is the start of a career!
QRM: In what ways do you feel your experiences as a queer person manifest in the games you work on, and influence the work you do?
Michael: With LongStory, especially, I put a lot of myself into my episodes by writing relationships I wished I'd been able to explore through video games when I was younger. There's one scene, in particular, where a potentially dateable character has you read a Shakespeare scene with him with the potential for a kiss at the end, which is definitely informed by the former queer theatre kid in me. What I love about the game is that those relationships aren't limited by the player's gender identity (then can be masculine, feminine or non-binary), so I like to think the relationships are going to mean something different for every player.
QRM: Do you have a favourite queer character—in games or media more generally? If so, what is it about them that makes them your favourite?
Question asked by @kamienw.
Michael: I have a fondness for Bully, especially Trent Northwick. Bully was the first time in my life as a gamer that I realized queer characters and desires could be explored openly through games. Also, his line basically sums up my sexual identity: "You're hot, I'm hot, let's make out."
QRM: Have you ever encountered roadblocks in trying to include queer characters in games? What do you think is preventing greater diversity within games?
Question asked by @dustinalex91.
Michael: I've been pretty fortunate that I've worked on games that are really open to including queer characters. The one instance I can think of the decision was pretty arbitrary: in some world-building writing on a project I tried to write in that two women were in a relationship to give one of them a happy ending, which was axed because it overcomplicated the narrative. The decision didn't strike me as overtly homophobic, but in a world with an excess of supernatural elements, are two women in a relationship really overcomplicating any kind of narrative?
QRM: Why do you think it is important that queer audiences are able to see themselves represented in the games they play, and in the developers who make the games they see? What can we do to improve the industry for queer audiences and devs?
Michael: This is going to be a weird answer, but I think a move away from a capitalist paradigm in the video games industry is the best way to see more diverse representation. After all the reading and conversations I've had around gender and sexuality in games, especially in the AAA industry, the biggest roadblock seems to be this imagined straight, white, cisgender male core audience that needs to pandered to in order to make money. When the gaming community moves away from generic, big-budget, money-making blockbusters and embraces more holistic, thoughtful, socially conscious game makers, we'll see more diverse representations of all kinds.
In terms of why it's important for queer audiences to see themselves and be represented in the industry, it's important because we exist.
QRM: In what ways can non-queer folk increase and support queer diversity present within games, as well as in the industry more broadly? How can we all work to support intersectional approaches to diversity, and why is this important?
Michael: Hire them, then listen to them and support them in the creative process. Like, now. Organizing diversity panels and talking a big game in your company's diversity standards is great and all, but we live in a world where there's a ton of talented queer game makers who are struggling to get by, working precarious labour jobs like contracts and freelancing, and working secondary jobs just to be able to do the work we love—this is my direct experience, and I'm far from the only one. If we're going to be an industry fixated on money, then put your money where your frickin' mouth is.
QRM: Is there a message that you would like to share with the queer game players, game studies researchers, and other interested folks who comprise the Queerly Represent Me community?
Michael: Learn Twine and start making beautiful, weird, queer little games and share them with the world. You'll be sharing a part of yourself, and that part is amazing!
*