A new Fallout 4 mod that “changes dialogue and all other references to the Sole Survivor’s pre-war spouse to be the same sex as them” has led to a ton of homophobic comments posted by users on the mod’s page, with it having garnered nearly 2000 overwhelmingly negative reviews in three days at the time of this writing, despite only 490 users having actually downloaded it.
The “LGBT family” Xbox One mod, created by Overseer777, allows players to change all references to the player-character’s spouse to be the same as them in Fallout 4‘s Far Harbor DLC, with it also changing the game’s dialogue “so that it’s ambiguous whether Shaun is adopted or the result of surrogacy and/or advanced science.” But despite the mod being an innocuous, optional way for players to role play in the game as they see fit, various users began swarming the comments section beneath it, posting hate-filled messages and furiously downvoting its player rating.
User Alexdeath posted a series of messages saying how the creation means “we need [to] kill more of them,” then seemingly referenced the Orlando shooting, saying: “Let’s hope [they] do the last time was funny as hell.” He added “if this mod stays up I may kill some myself.”
Another user, Skylar14, wrote “stupid gays kys (kill yourself).”
XTradeth then posted a series of messages in which he said the USA will “suffer the same fate as Rome thanks to ideals like this,” adding: “Nice thing about the LGBT is they can’t reproduce.” He also said that the LGBT flag should lead to settlement attacks being “increased by 300%,” adding: “When I see a spider I want to crush it. To me the spider is a FREEEK! I don’t want them around me spinning there webs. I guess the main difference between a spider and a LGBT is that a spider can reproduce and a LGBT can’t… Suck on that.”
Another user said that they was disappointed that the mod wouldn’t feature LGBT settlements, as they were “looking forward to some more genocide.”
Others began suggesting that the fan-created mod was a result of “liberal propaganda,” while one user wrote “this mod is cancerous.”
Then there were others who branded the mod “pointless.” Bear in mind that there exists a popular and well-received Fallout 4 mod that replaces all the dialogue in the game with fart noises.
Then there were those who brought religion into the equation, saying that the mod was offensive to their religious beliefs, telling its creator to “take this mod down.”
More comments saw users referring to the LGBT community as making the USA the “laughing stock of the world,” and that the mod was “encouraging” them.
Despite many of these comments having been posted three days ago and other users saying that they had reported those who had posted them, they’re still visible on Bethesda’s website, serving as a disturbing reminder that even when same-sex relationships are introduced into a game by way of an optional mod, there are still many who will respond to this with violent threats and bigoted rhetoric.
Considering that the Fallout 4 base game actively allows players to pursue same-sex relationship with their companions, it would appear that many of those commenting haven’t even played the game, despite them complaining about the fan-created mod. The mod currently sits at a rating of two stars with 1868 user reviews having been posted, despite only 490 people having downloaded it.
