EA and Zynga stated that the presence of LGBT themes in its games and the company's support of LGBT community initiatives have not been an issue with the company's investors, according to a recent interview with EA representatives on GamesIndustry.biz.
"There have been no questions, comments or concerns raised from our investors with regards to support for LGBT initiatives in the community or having LGBT characters in our games," said global diversity head Ginger Maseda. "Essentially, it's been a non-issue from an investor perspective."
EA's statements are direct responses to the Defense of Marriage Act, a bill that would legally define "marriage" as a union between a man and a woman only.
Zynga general counsel Reggie Davis said that there had been "zero" blowback from investors regarding Zynga's support of the LGBT community.
"None," Davis said. "Not a peep from investors, from the press, or internally."
"Part of inclusion is making everybody feel heard and that they have a voice," Maseda added. "As a publicly traded company, I think it's important to listen to our consumers. Whether we believe it's right or wrong, it's all incorporated into what we do."
"There are 13, 14, 15-year-old boys and girls committing suicide throughout a lot of the country because they can't come to grips in their community with being who they are," said Davis. "To me, it just takes the whole debate around ‘some people don't agree with it,' or ‘you're a public company; should you not do this because of your full representation to your shareholders?'
"We're very vocal about our position, and people ultimately have an option to invest in the company or not," he continued. "As long as there's good disclosure around what your commitments are at the company, then people can make informed decisions as to whether they want to invest in you or not."