How video games can unlock euphoria for transgender players

Gaming is huge. According to Forbes business magazine, the sector’s global revenue is more than the music and movie industries combined. That is a lot of people engaged in game stories and game characters. So how does gender fluidity fit in and what, in gaming, is gender euphoria?

Monash’s Associate Professor Phoebe Toups Dugas works in human centred computing at the Exertion Games Lab in the Faculty of Information Technology, and in a new paper she coordinated explores this idea of euphoria for transgender gamers.

She says euphoria in the context of “digital play” is about the joy, comfort and wellbeing felt when gender identity is seen, felt, or expressed in a game in a way that resonates with who they are.

“I think gender euphoria is really applicable to anyone, but it is a moment ‘in-game’ where your identity and your experience of your identity are truly aligned, and they are described as being bright, intense moments, wonderful moments.”

Cisgender people experience these kinds of moments all the time, she says, but may not notice.

“For transgender people, especially people who haven't had the opportunity to experience them, when they do happen it's rare and fleeting and amazing. We are looking at how games let you have those experiences.”

The research was presented this month at the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) CHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Japan, a top conference in the field.

The study of 25 games was conducted by Associate Professor Toups Dugas and three other game design experts from Monash (PhD student Michelle Cormier) and Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, whose lived experiences as trans femme people served as a source of understanding and data.

A key consideration is inclusivity in game design, and how all people can be represented, not just straight male or female characters doing straight male or female things who embark on quests coloured by gender norms.

The paper further describes euphoria in gaming as moments of “satisfaction and relief caused by self-actualisation and gender congruence”, which is important because the intensity of gaming and gaming’s focus on bodies, human experiences and social interactions, can lead to empowerment through gender.

The researchers studied 25 games, some very small and independent, others more mainstream.

“Gender euphoria has recently entered the academic vernacular,” the paper says, “but has long been used by the transgender community as a way of highlighting the distinct joys that can come from gendered experience by trans (and cis-) people.”

The paper (and also previous work by the researchers) describes gender dysphoria, where, instead of recognition and esteem, the feeling in the game is one of distress.

“The prevailing discourse surrounding trans people is damage-centred,” the paper says, “with research topics that address content or themes that cause harm. This positions trans people as vulnerable and associates us with hardship and distress that calls for inclusive design.

“In human-computer interaction (HCI), the absence of understanding on transgender gender euphoria may perpetuate the emphasis on negative experiences, and could neglect promoting design for positive gender experiences for trans resilience.”

The paper describes these psychological and emotional connections that can be found in games, but it also describes the mechanics – the choices that game creators offer players (for example, designing a pit to jump over or a trans character to interact with).

By classifying mechanics around identified gender euphoria for trans-femme people, the authors hope game developers and designers might recognise new or revised “outcome dynamics” – the what, why and how of character arcs in-game.

The four key outcomes of experiences of euphoria in gaming, after data analysis, are:

• gender affirmation
• affirming thoughts or self-talk
• positive emotions, and
• enhanced quality of life

Some of these are subconscious and only recognised later. It’s as simple as feeling good because of a situation or part of a narrative in a game.

“A player might have affirming thoughts,” says Associate Professor Toups Dugas, “and think to themselves ‘that was cool! Why was that cool?’”

Associate Professor Toups Dugas remembers feeling euphoria in her own gaming life when she found out the main character in a Nintendo game called Metroid, Samus Aran, who the player controls, was a woman (underneath the ornate space-armour).

“You’re a space bounty hunter in this mechanical suit, then it turns out, if you complete the game fast enough, she takes off her helmet and her hair comes out. This was shocking. This badass character who's shooting up space aliens, she's a woman? What?”

The researchers analysed 25 games, including specific case studies from four popular games Cyberpunk 2077, Celeste, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and One night, Hot springs, to understand how specific design elements and storylines can lead to gender euphoria for trans players.

In One night, Hot springs - an indie game - Haru, a Japanese trans woman still marked as a man on her ID, is invited to a hot spring by her cisgender female friend, Manami, and Manami’s friend Erika. Haru feels anxious because of the range of issues she might encounter, which are many, but the game includes “trans comfort” and “heart-warming moments”, the paper says.

In Celeste, a much more mainstream game, a character called Madeline needs to climb Celeste Mountain. Madeline is a trans woman, but this is not directly shown, rather it comes in clues such as a transgender pride flag, a bottle of pharmaceuticals (hormone replacement therapy), and a photo of Madeline with shorter hair.

“It’s interesting here that Madeline is just a character in a game. It’s not meant to be remarked upon, it's just there,” says Associate Professor Toups Dugas.

“Designing for gender euphoria doesn’t just benefit trans players,” she says, “it also helps build richer, more inclusive worlds for everyone.”

Another case study is the character Claire Russell in Cyberpunk 2077 — a trans woman, non-player character (NPC) who forms a gradual, meaningful relationship with the player through a series of high stakes street races. The game presents Claire as a confident and capable character, an expert in her own fields that can mentor and partner with the player on their level.

The paper says this enables players to experience “parasocial” gender euphoria — a feeling of developing a relationship with a fictional character who is being supported and reflected in a world that accepts them. In doing so, the player can assimilate that ideal self-image and improve their own self-esteem, something that is often impacted by social and institutional stigmatisation.

“In the game it is revealed later that she is a trans woman. So you might even not choose to go interact with her as a side quest, but she's got a flag posted in her truck. As you build your relationship with her and help her out, she will trust you and talk to you more. And she'll eventually reveal to you that this is her past and share that with you as an intimate conversation.”

Cyberpunk 2077 includes many “human-interest-style side quests,” says Michelle Cormier. “They are different small stories about normal people living in NightCity, their trials, failures and successes. It’s meaningful that Claire is one of those stories, as a street racer and a trans woman living successfully in this version of the future. The future has a place for trans people, one where we can be as successful and happy as cisgendered people.”