Wylde Flowers, the Australian-developed narrative adventure game from Studio Drydock, has been nominated for a GLAAD media award for its representation of LGBTQ+ relationships. These annual awards aim to recognise media that includes ‘fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community and the issues that affect their lives.’
A number of video games have been nominated for their efforts, with Wylde Flowers being the sole inclusion from Australia. Regardless of a win, it’s a fantastic accolade – and one that demonstrates the wonderful impact the game has had.
In Wylde Flowers, you play as Tara – a young witch who enters a cloistered village populated by folks from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum. Tara herself can romance villagers of any gender, the local jeweller and baker are in a loving relationship (Angus and Francis), and romanceable villager Kim is non-binary. Every character is presented as a well-rounded individual with their own desires and aspirations, with their sexuality never reduced to a ‘box-ticking’ feature.
Read: How Wylde Flowers incorporates escape and empowerment
Positive inclusion and representation was at the heart of the game’s development, and pervades every inch of its story and characters. The GLAAD nomination for positive representation is certainly well-earned, and we congratulate Studio Drydock on this achievement.
Here’s the full list of GLAAD Media Award nominations for Outstanding Video Games:
- Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts)
- Desta: The Memories Between (ustwo games)
- Haven (The Game Bakers)
- I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (Northway Games/Finji)
- Need for Speed: Unbound (Criterion Games/Electronic Arts)
- SIGNALIS (rose-engine/Humble Games)
- The Quarry (Supermassive Games/2K Games)
- Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands (Gearbox Software/2K Games)
- World of Warcraft: Dragonflight (Blizzard Entertainment)
- Wylde Flowers (Studio Drydock)
You can also view a full list of nominees for the 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards here.
The GLAAD award ceremony will take place on 30 March 2023 in Los Angeles, CA, United States.
