Danielle Briggs and Chad Weisman, a thirty-something couple who have been dating for six years, can’t remember the last time they had sex without the light of a video game pause menu illuminating the room.

“I never really thought about it until last night,” Danielle told Hardcasual. “We celebrated our six year anniversary by going out to dinner and a movie, which is our tradition, and then went straight home and drank a bottle of wine by candlelight. It was really romantic, but when it was time to… you know, we couldn’t make it happen. My first thought was, ‘Uh oh! It’s finally happened. The magic is gone.’ Of course, that didn’t end up being the case.”

“We kind of just sat in bed, wondering what was missing. Then it hit me,” Chad recalled, “we haven’t had sex without a video game menu lighting up the room for, I don’t know, two years now. So I blew out the candle, fired up God of War, and we went at it like bunny rabbits.”

Chad and Danielle seem to have no problems with the repercussions of their revelation. “I don’t think it’s sad at all,” Danielle said. “That’s just our relationship. Chad gets home from work really late and that’s how he blows off steam. I work really early so I’m usually asleep when he gets home, but sometimes, when he’s playing too loud or is talking into his headset, I wake up and…” She trails off with a knowing smirk. “It is what it is.”

Chad even believes that their relationship changes with what video game he is playing. “We went through a bit of a rough patch a couple years ago, and I honestly believe that it has something to do with the fact that Metal Gear Solid has no music when you pause it.”