Dominique 'SonicFox' McClean wins DragonBall FighterZ Grand Championship in 2018. (Joe Buglewicz/Getty)

A black furry video game player has won the Dragon Ball FighterZ title at the 2018 Evolution Championship Series – and instantly announced he was gay.

Earlier this year, a video game was released which helps people to understand what it’s like to have gender dysphoria – but like most industries, there is still a great deal of progress to be made.

After Dominique “SonicFox” McLean cemented his fourth Evo title on Sunday, in front of hundreds of thousands of people at the Las Vegas event and online, he took his phone out and tweeted: “im gay.

im gay also the best dbfz player on this fucking planet dont forget it. — Echo Fox | SonicFox (@SonicFox5000) August 6, 2018

“Also the best dbfz player on this f**king planet dont forget it.”

Furries are people who enjoy dressing up in animal costumes, and McLean showed off his true self by putting on his blue fox head which he uses to demonstrate his furry persona (fursona) before he tweeted.

A total of 2,575 entered the Dragon Ball FighterZ section of the tournament, but the 20-year-old gamer triumphed over them all – and did it without hiding any part of who he is.

For his fans, it was a moment of celebration – both for his win, and for the loud and proud way in which he marked it.

One wrote: “No but really. A young man wins one of the highest-profile video game events in the world, and with history and hundreds of thousands watching he announces (rather, reminds everyone) that he’s gay.

“That IS some powerful stuff. Imagine being a young queer kid and seeing that.”

No but really. A young man wins one of the highest-profile video game events in the world, and with history and hundreds of thousands watching he announces (rather, reminds everyone) that he’s gay. That IS some powerful stuff. Imagine being a young queer kid and seeing that. — Kris Ligman (@KrisLigman) August 6, 2018

Another said: “sonicfox winning at evo and then immediately putting on a fursuit head and tweeting ‘im gay’ is so important for the culture.”

sonicfox winning at evo and then immediately putting on a fursuit head and tweeting "im gay" is so important for the culture — alan (@ActionAlan) August 6, 2018

“250k people just watched a gay black furry be the most dominant player in one of the most exciting fighting games out right now.

“What a time to be alive. live your very best life SonicFox,” yet another fan wrote.

250k people just watched a gay black furry be the most dominant player in one of the most exciting fighting games out right now. what a time to be alive. live your very best life SonicFox. — austin walker (@austin_walker) August 6, 2018

Speaking to ESPN, he said: “The more fame that I have, the more I realise, why should I care what people think about me when I can just be me?

“That’s how I made my brand: You should just always be yourself and there will always be people who will like you.”

And he indicated that he’ll be proudly displaying his gay, black, furry self on stages for many years to come, saying: “The greatest part is I’m not even in my prime yet.

“So I still have [a lot of time] ahead of me.”

Last year, Nintendo Switch game Splatoon 2 was flooded with messages of support for transgender and non-binary players.

And in November, it was revealed that the European Union was funding the development of a video game to help tackle racist, homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.