Ashley Johnson, known best for her role as Ellie in Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us, has spoken to Videogamer about the general lack of female characters in games. She especially made note of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Unity, which was roundly criticized for the same when the publisher revealed it didn’t have the resources to include playable female characters.
“I’m sort of coming at this as an actress but also as a female gamer. Assassin’s Creed: Unity is a great example of when I saw the gameplay and saw that [in] their multiplayer you do not have the option to play as a female.
“I was like, ‘Give me a f***ing break! It’s 2014! How many video games do you have to make to realise maybe have an option to have a female be in there?’ And maybe not just on PS Vita.
“But it did make me upset. There are so many female gamers. I don’t know what the percentage is at this point but there are a lot of females that play video games and it would be nice to see stronger females in a game that are not just the damsel in distress, the love interest or she’s oversexualised. She doesn’t even necessarily have to be a badass. Just like a normal female character.”
Ubisoft later backtracked and said that the lack of playable female characters was due to the co-op nature of the game (where you always look like protagonist Arnaud on your screen even if you appear differently on others) but Johnson still makes a valid point. What are your thoughts on the matter? Let us know below.