Darth Gaydar! Star Wars game introduces homosexual characters for the first time as it catches up with the real world

• Designers behind Star Wars: The Old Republic add ‘gay’ planet ‘Makeb’
• Players can hold ‘flirty’ dialogue and have same-sex cyber ‘relationships’
• Canadian makers say characters introduced after pressure from gay fans
  
• It is an online role-playing game with 1m players set in Star Wars universe
• Gays groups slam ‘gay ghetto’ for confining gay relationships to one area

By Matt Blake

Published: 11:51 BST, 16 January 2013 | Updated: 20:59 BST, 16 January 2013

The makers of Star Wars have been forced to unveil the first ever gay characters in its latest computer game.

Designers behind ‘Star Wars: The Old Republic’ have included a ‘gay’ planet called Makeb where male and female characters – and aliens – have same sex relationships.

The homosexual characters appear in the ‘Rise of the Hutt Cartell’ – a part of the role-playing game which can be accessed by gamers who pay for an expansion pack.

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Up with the times: Designers behind ‘Star Wars: The Old Republic’ have included a ‘gay’ planet called Makeb where male and female characters – and aliens – have same sex relationships

Players who enter the new level can exchange ‘flirtatious’ dialogue and enter into same-sex cyber ‘relationships’ with computer-controlled characters of the same gender.

To get to the gay planet, users must also have a powerful character – as the planet is populated by powerful monsters.

BioWare, the Canadian studio behind the game, say the characters have been introduced after pressure from gay fans.

Expansion in ideas: The homosexual characters appear in the ‘Rise of the Hutt Cartell’ – a part of the role-playing game which can be accessed by gamers who pay for an expansion pack

Flirt online: Players who enter the new level can exchange ‘flirtatious’ dialogue and enter into same-sex cyber ‘relationships’ with computer-controlled characters of the same gender

Darth Gaydar: To get to the gay planet, users must also have a powerful character – as the planet is populated by powerful monsters

Executive producer Jeff Hickman said in a post on the official website: ‘As we have said in the past, allowing same gender romance is something we are very supportive of.’

The game is the latest expansion to the MMORPG – massively multiplayer online role-playing game – set in the fictional Star Wars universe, and has around a million players.

But the move has also created controversy – with some gamers upset that the gay characters have been segregated from the rest of the game’s population.

Universal appeal: The game is the latest expansion to the MMORPG – massively multiplayer online role-playing game – set in the fictional Star Wars universe, and has around a million players

Pressure: BioWare, the Canadian studio behind the game, say the characters have been introduced after pressure from gay fans

Some gay groups claim the designers have created a ‘gay ghetto’ by forcing players to carry out relationships in one particular area.

The game, which was launched in December 2011, does not allow a player to have a gay sidekick, but the team at BioWare are hoping to fix that at a later date.

  VIDEO  Take a look inside the world of Star Wars The Old Republic