Rumor: Activision Doesn't Think Female Leads Can Sell Games

Activision might be directional its studios to stay away from developing games that star female characters.

Sources impossible of Activision are locution that the publisher forced its studios to alter the gender of their games' principal characters to persist in line with what IT thought would sell. Piece a specific position circumferent the development of True Crime: Hong Kong is called, the sources say this is just component of a bigger problem at Activision where the accompany uses focus group tests to the "extreme."

Activision's Treyarch once conceived a game inspired by Hong-Kong action cinema called Shameful Nelumbo nucifera starring a Lucy Liu-esque female tether. Activision reportedly distinct that in 2007, when Halo 3 and Modern Warfare were king, a bet on stellar a female confidential information wasn't going to work. "We were all on room, and then Activision killed it, same they don't make female characters because they don't trade," one and only source told Gamasutra. "Activision gave us specific focussing to lose the chick," same another.

One evidently believes: "Activision has no room for 'we are making an open-world game with a Hong Kong fulfill picture feel with a female lead,' because that game doesn't exist right now. What they do accept room for is, 'we are making an open-world secret plan with a gangster main fictitious character who can steal cars and shoot people, but it testament Be in Hong Kong instead of Shore leave City. And then they go, 'Hey, GTA IV sold-out 10 million copies, so that's what we require from you.'"

Black Nymphaea lotus was then reborn as True Law-breaking: Hong Kong, now in development at United Front Games and starring a manly lead. The sources betoken that this project switch is certify of Activision's reliance on focus tests that they say stifle developer creative thinking. They also say that direction skews centre tests occasionally so that they suit management's own opinions, much as with same case where "feedback sent to the higher-ups from individual along the publishing side was skewed to be the exact opposite" of what it in reality was.

But this doesn't just now involve Sincere Law-breaking: Hong Kong and the egg-producing gender. The sources also say that True Law-breaking: Empire State once starred a Edward Douglas White Jr male officer until the succeeder of Grand larceny Car: San Andreas, which marked a dark gang member, forced a switch to a black male gangster for True Law-breaking atomic number 3 well.

Activision replied to the allegations, locution it "does non take a insurance policy of informatory its studios what game content they tail end spring up, nor has the company told any of its studios that they cannot develop games with distaff lead characters." It says there was no grammatical gender mandate put connected the chief character of True Crime: Hong Kong, but did say it "uses market research in order to improve understand [what] gamers are looking for" like most videogame and media companies.

Anonymous sources are always difficult to put my full faith in, because sometimes they can be discontented employees with an ax to grind. Whether Activision specifically said "lose the chick" or not, it probably does use focus testing to some point and try to alter future studio behavior based on the results.

Though we've seen games with female leads like Final Fantasy XIII sell first-rate, for whatever reason this May not glucinium the case with other genres. Would a Grand Larceny Auto or Call of Duty-style game really appeal to the Saami mainstream audience if it were to have a female on the deal or as a intense grapheme? If no, wherefore the heck not? I would love to see a studio develop cardinal much title (that's actually good) to see what happens.

Source: Gamasutra

https://www.escapistmagazine.com/rumor-activision-doesnt-think-female-leads-can-sell-games/

Source: https://www.escapistmagazine.com/rumor-activision-doesnt-think-female-leads-can-sell-games/

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