Ubisoft limited role of female protagonists in Assassin’s Creed games

Ubisoft would have made the role of female characters less prominent in several games, because the management of the company feared that such games would sell less well. In Assassin’s Creed, among other things, the roles of playable characters have been reduced.

In Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Origins and Odyssey, the female lead characters would have been given a less prominent role, according to a report by Bloomberg. In an early version of the Assassin’s Creed Syndicate script, both protagonists, Jacob and Evie, would play an equally important role, say three company sources. In the end, a larger part of the lead role went to Jacob after all.

Similar stories, according to Bloomberg’s sources, also exist about Assassin’s Creed Origins, in which the initial plan was to exchange the hero Bayek for the female Aya early in the game. In Odyssey, the developers planned to make the female Kassandra the only playable character, but Ubisoft demanded that players have a choice between a male and female character.

The orders would come primarily from Ubisoft’s marketing department and chief creative officer Serge Hascoët. The latter left Ubisoft earlier this month due to multiple allegations of abuse and sexual harassment.

Bloomberg’s sources say the changes with the main characters have to do with “a sexist culture deep within the company.” Both Hascoët and the marketing department would have suggested that “games with female protagonists wouldn’t sell well.” The developers also felt that they had to implement Hascoët’s ideas, otherwise their projects might be stopped. In many cases, that would mean that there had to be a “strong, male protagonist” in the game.

The protagonists from Assassin’s Creed Odyssey: Kassandra and Alexios.