This year's E3 event has finally featured female protagonists, a move that apparently welcomes women in equal ranks with men. A report from CBC News has listed the female characters in the video game industry that was shown off at the E3 event this week in Los Angeles.
Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn
Meet the bow-wielding huntress Aloy, a female protagonist from "Horizon Zero Dawn." Game commentators tagged her as the "Katniss Everdeen" of video games because she carries a bow and killed robotic creatures that look like dinosaurs. Aloy was presented during the Sony's E3 press conference.
Emily from "Dishonored 2"
"Dishonored 2's" Emily Kaldwin was debuted during Bethesda's E3 presentation. She is a female protagonist with a crossbow as weapon and a trippy power. Emily Kaldwin is a supernatural assassin that can zip up various buildings and establishments.
Joule from "ReCore"
"ReCore's" female character Joule was introduced during the Microsoft E3 press conference, where the company presented a video gameplay that showed a scrappy young woman who explored the desert.
Evie from "Assassin's Creed: Syndicate"
Ubisoft's "Assassin's Creed: Syndicate's" Evie Frye, the cousin of Jacob, has the capability to use a cane sword, blades and knives as her deadly weapons. Evie Frye is destined to fight the Templars in the game. Ubisoft presented Evie Frye this week at the E3 press briefing.
Rae from "Beyond Eyes"
Rae is the female protagonist in the video game "Beyond Eyes" that was developed by Tiger & Squid. Rae is described as a blind girl that can interpret the world using imagery.
Last year, a related report from CBC News, noted that over the years the video game industry lacked female characters, an issue that's constantly looming in the video game industry.
According to the same report, an advocacy group Women in Games International stressed that there should be a "substantive" response from the people in the game industry regarding more female characters.
"It's boring that we're continuing to have this conversation. I started in the industry nine years ago and it seems like we're having the same conversation with the same responses from industry insiders, gamers and the media. It needs to be more substantive," said Belinda Van Sickle, President and CEO of the group as quoted in the CBC News report.
The different game developers, meanwhile, cite various reasons for having males as main protagonists in the games. Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, responded to the issue positively, "Any character you create requires extra resources, gender aside. Any character that has a different look, voice, mechanics or way of moving, requires more work. But that's not a reason not to do something. We create lots of different characters with lots of different movements," he said.
