Last week’s “Sex in Video Games” Conference spawned some interesting discussions, including one on “Emergent Sex,” or the “salacious activities that show up in non-sexual games.” Players who bond while adventuring together online will sometimes take the game play to another level by engaging in virtual sex. And this even occurs in games that don’t allow the avatars to fully disrobe – the people controlling the virtual characters just have “to get very creative.” Sex happens, in even the virtual world.

However, the biggest question lurking beneath every discussion at the conference was whether money could made from combining these two already lucrative industries, namely the adult entertainment and the video game industries. Although some conference participants expressed worries that adult content and video games could never lawfully marry, others were already developing games with explicit sexual content. Gabe Zichermann, the marketer who handled the “adults only” version of “Leisure Suit Larry,” stated that, “As long as companies create an “adult content” catalog that’s separate from its “family friendly” catalog, he said it’s easy to reach adult and mainstream markets without backlash.” Considering the enthusiasm of conference participants, it’s only a matter of time before adult-oriented video games become mass-market items.

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