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Did you notice how there was precisely zero fuss made about the female star who appeared in the Mass Effect Andromeda trailer? Pretty cool, huh?
Back in 2011 EA, with much fanfare, proclaimed that a female version of original Mass Effect trilogy hero Shepard would star in one of Mass Effect 3’s official trailers. Femshep was also the cover star of the game’s Collectors’ Edition.
Until that point the male Shepard has fronted all of the game’s marketing materials, despite the fact that the female option had been available since the off.
Five years later, however, and it seems the barriers have been lowered.
"When we debuted male Shepard back in 2006, 10 years ago, it was a time when we drew inspiration from traditional entertainment marketing," BioWare boss Aaryn Flynn told Eurogamer. "So: ‘We need an iconic main character. We need an iconic everything else’.
"But I think the whole industry, us included, have moved beyond that. Our games let you choose your main character. I think everyone gets that nowadays. You don’t need to see a character to identify with, in the same way you might on a movie poster. People want to create their own characters, customise them, and we’re embracing that."
Here’s the E3 trailer:
