Coming Out On Top

Five muscular masculine figures stand beside one another, looking at the camera.
  • Developer: Obscurasoft
  • Publisher: Obscurasoft
  • Year: 2015
  • Genre: Visual novel
  • Platform/s: PC (free demo)

Coming Out On Top was referenced in the Queer Representation (2016) survey as a relaxed and humorous representation of sexuality, particularly representation of gay men. One respondent mentioned Jed as a favourite character in how he is representated. Other respondents were less positive about the game, with Ian mentioned as promoting harmful stereotypes; he is seen originally as the 'straight roommate fantasy' and his storyline progresses negatively.

Todd Harper wrote about his experiences with Coming Out On Top at Paste Magazine. He was displeased by the representation in the game, saying that the narrative rely on a lot of tropes and that he was not surprised to learn that the game was not developed by a gay man (the identity the game seeks to represent). Harper believes that image stereotypes in Coming Out On Top are harmful in their promotion of there being a 'right way' to be gay, something that has been around for decades. Still, many gay men consider this game one of their favourite representations of gay identity, which is evident when looking at Coming Out On Top's website and seeing the discussions taking place between fans.