Video game protagonists have come a long way over the years. Consider the iconic Lara Croft: In her 1996 debut, she was a polygonal, sexualized figure, designed to appeal to an overwhelmingly male audience. However, she also stood out for being one of the few playable female protagonists at the time; her strong demeanor made her a beloved heroine for many female gamers as well. Almost 20 years later, Crystal Dynamics took the character to the next level by rebooting her into a more complex, multidimensional character. This year's E3 showcased that more playable female characters are following suit, suggesting this trend may soon become the new status quo.
At E3 2014, the press conferences showcased 28 games with exclusive male leads compared to 5 titles starring women. Around the same time, Ubisoft chose not to add a playable female character to its upcoming game Assassin's Creed Unity, alienating potential customers. These two occurrences encapsulate why controversy arose during last year's E3, an event some publications used to call out the video game industry on its lack of gender diversity. This year, however, the narrative seems to have flipped.
Most hailed E3 2015 as a much-needed reversal for female representation. With Dishonored 2, Bethesda unveiled Emily Kaldwin instead of further highlighting the returning male character Corvo. The same occurred with Assassin's Creed: Syndicate, as E3 attendees watched a trailer dedicated to Evie Fyre at Sony's press conference. Time and time again, the press conferences emphasized playable female characters.
To compare E3 2015 to its predecessors, I watched every E3 press conference from 2012 through 2015 and compiled yearly lists of games with playable female characters. Most titles earned a spot through the inclusion of a customizable protagonist, though a significant number of fighting games were included because of their selectable female fighters. A few games also qualified because of exclusively female leads or brief segments featuring a playable woman (think Ciri in The Witcher 3). In cases where playable female characters had been announced but were not shown during the presentation, I marked the game as having playable women.
The results of my research are below.* 'Total' refers to each year's games with playable female characters divided by all the games at E3. Bethesda and Square Enix's press conferences from 2015 are not listed, but I included them when calculating the totals. Of the six games Bethesda highlighted at its press conference, five – 83 percent – offered playable female characters. For Square Enix, that number dropped to 64 percent.
*Research for 2015 done by NYM Gamer. To see the numbers in a table format, click here.
With a 20 percent boost in playable female characters, my sentiment that E3 2015 was a better year for female representation proved true. Why the sudden change in direction? Potential explanations include broader marketing strategies and more female developers. Let's look at each possibility.
Turn to the next page to learn how marketing changes are affecting the number of playable female characters.