The release of Charli XCX’s legendary album “BRAT” is an instructive topic and an opportunity for the gaming industry to learn from it.
BRAT is a dream come true for me as a long-time fan of Charli’s music. Her discography and, if I may say so, her entire career, which belongs almost exclusively to the queer community, was revered in a subculture that relished not existing in the mainstream. Today, it’s perhaps impossible to go online without coming across a BRAT edit of Kamala Harris or TikTokers dancing to “Apple.”
When I noticed the album’s viral status and Charli’s rise to the spotlight, I realized that the gaming industry could learn a lot from her and her uniquely creative approach to marketing the album.
Similar to the music industry, the motto in the video game industry is “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. AAA studios usually sit on their iron thrones and bubble up with new Call of Duty‘s or NBA2Kis like clockwork. This industry-like quality of reselling the same product every year with a slightly new, shiny packaging is the standard for what is popular in the wider culture. As a versatile gamer who gets most into the realm of JRPGs, it was a challenge for me to show non-gamers how versatile gaming is, beyond Super Mario And Fortnite.
Among outsiders, the stigma is still prevalent, and much like Charli’s career, there is a passionate niche audience that may be able to find some peace in the fact that their beloved titles don’t enjoy such widespread popularity outside of their own community.
I’m starting to think that it might be helpful for lesser-known studios or indie developers to take a leaf out of Charli’s book if they don’t know how to sell their products outside of their fan niche.
If lesser-known studios or indie developers don’t know how to sell their products outside of their fan niche, they could take a leaf out of Charli’s book.
BRAT’s success lies not only in its (extremely) successful sound, but also in its world-building, which is further enhanced by its brilliant, authenticity-based marketing.
Charli began her career as an artist by performing at raves and is every bit the party girl she portrays herself to be. By DJing sets in boiler rooms and playing her then-unreleased tracks through a speaker while dancing on the roof of a car in Brooklyn, she invited people into her private world by capitalizing on her audience’s “cool” factor that is often overlooked by the larger mainstream.
Most notably, she created a private Instagram account where she (almost shockingly) shared personal stories like her confusing relationship with Lorde and even her plastic surgeries. She lifted the curtain between herself and her fans by being honest and unashamedly herself, without inhibitions.
Even when we as individuals try to bring our stories to others, we often have to pander or change ourselves to be heard. This is especially true in the LGBTQ+ community, where we have historically created really innovative art behind the scenes that is often not recognized until much later when it is replicated in the mainstream. It can feel like the things we create are objectively brilliant but don’t make much money, not worth selling.
BRAT, in this case, was both an anomaly and a beacon of hope for pioneers in all kinds of industries struggling to be seen. The fact that mainstream celebrities and even a US presidential candidate are embracing the sound of a queer community is something that cannot be overlooked.
This is something I could never have imagined as a queer man. It turned something I secretly loved into something “cool” that is now embraced by the world thanks to meme culture and social media. So if that’s the case with BRAT, why can’t it be the case with games too?
It turned something I secretly loved into something “cool” that is now embraced by the world thanks to meme culture and social media. So if that’s the case with BRAT, why can’t it be the case with games too?
The stereotype of the “gamer” often paints the picture of a college brother who plays Call of Duty next to a pile of empty pizza boxes and energy drinks. This reminds me of the initial rejection of Charli’s music by my friends, who thought it was simple, glitzy pop music that wasn’t “cool.”
If queer gaming companies could escape the “uncool” image of gaming as a whole by promoting something edgy and sexy that would also be interesting to laypeople, they might also be able to reach an untapped market.
People are bored, and even the average people want something stimulating that makes them uncomfortable but still keeps them interested. While different genres of games appeal to different audiences, there’s something empowering about Charli’s success that makes me believe we’re heading towards a renaissance of something that can be truly different.
Take Final Fantasy 7in the ’90s here in the West. Square Enix cleverly exploited the game’s then-groundbreaking CGI cutscenes and promoted it in a similar way to action movies. JRPGs and turn-based combat might have sounded boring if they had focused on gameplay, but because they focused on what was cool, they got their foot in the door without sacrificing even a hint of authenticity. The game was indeed a cinematic masterpiece, but that was just a single part of a very powerful whole.
Square Enix cleverly exploited the game’s then-groundbreaking CGI cutscenes and promoted it in a similar way to action movies.
So when we see the mainstream now embracing openly queer pop music, maybe it’s time we struck. We need to build a new world around gaming that shows our community is more than the month of June and the fight for representation. What if there was less fighting and more embracing? Less heaviness and more lightness. So often I see a lot of queer culture being about fighting to be heard, when I think we should be living the way we talk instead. Of course, I understand why it’s taken this to get to this point, but it’s time we take back our power and be proud of it.
Instead of judging AAA studios who often fall flat on their faces when they try to please the queer community by squeezing a gay character into a box, why don’t we just make the games we want to see? Larian Studios Baldur’s Gate 3 made AAA developers tremble with fear as they delivered an outstanding game that could captivate players for years, if they let it.
By simply being themselves, making a game they personally liked, for people they love, they were able to cause disruption in a natural way. No pitchforks or protests, just an act of showing up and delivering what they wanted to see in the world.
Maybe this way gaming can be even more BRAT-like.
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