Watching an interview with Tim Schafer and James Marion in which they're talking about Psychonauts 2 featuring the first gay characters in a Double Fine game, and I really admire Tim Schafer for coming right out and saying that the reason this is the first is in part because he wasn't comfortable doing it before now, that he had been following 'the path of least resistance'
Like, I don't admire him for that, but in the question he's explicitly given an out of 'was it that the games just didn't center any sexuality or romance' and he doesn't take it, and I admire him for being willing to admit that it was cowardice and just him (and the company) making harmful decisions
They also go on to talk about how the original concept featured -- okay, going to spoiler tag this just in case though I'm not sure anyone who is interested in the subject doesn't know the relationship in question
Originally the game was going to have a love triangle between Ford, Lucretia, and Bob, with the player believing that Ford and Bob are both in love with Lucretia and the climax revealing that Bob is in love with Ford, so both having a tragic love triangle, a gay character being in love with a straight man, and a gay character's love being unrequited. James Marion suggested an alternative-
MARION: I didn't want another sad, unrequited, gay love, you know.
I love what we ended up with and I love that Tim Schafer and Double Fine at large were willing to listen to a gay person telling them they can do better.
