One of the most notable blunders of this year’s E3 -Ubisoft’s explanation of why Assassin’s Creed Unity features no female lead – has received no small amount of media attention, but today the developer got burned by none other than The Last of Us‘s Ellie. Voiced by Ashley Johnson, Ellie is one of two protagonists in The Last of Us, a young girl who must survive in an unforgiving post-apocalyptic world using her strength and wits. In an interview with VideoGamer.com, Johnson shared her thoughts not only on Ubisoft but on the lack of playable female characters in gaming in general.
Ashley Johnson – voice of Ellie in “The Last of Us” plays “The Last of Us”
Johnson had harsh words for Ubisoft and the gaming industry in general:
“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 realize maybe have an option to have a female be in there?’ And maybe not just on PS Vita.”
Johnson’s feelings have been echoed by HuffingtonPost, Slate.com, and even Forbes.com – as well as here on GameSkinny, and from all the attention the issue is getting it’s very surprising how little is being done about it. Johnson’s words may seem a bit harsh to some, but her outrage is definitely justified and as more time passes female characters are still seen no more frequently.
Between the absence of playable female characters, the poor portrayal of them, and the blatant sexism within the industry itself we can expect to see more people speaking out against it just as strongly as Johnson with increasing frequency.
