Gears of War with a Female Lead Would be a Hard Sell

Epic Games has added to the evidence that developers and publishers alike are often reluctant to have female protagonists in their games. In a discussion with OXM, Epic's art director Chris Perna talks about the female characters that were introduced to the series with Gears of War 3, and how female fans “feel empowered” when they play the game or dress up as the characters at cosplay events. But when asked whether he thinks whether a future game in the series could have a female lead, Perna made it pretty clear that isn't on the cards:

“That's certainly interesting but I don't know. If you look at what sells, it's tough to justify something like that.”

This explanation for leaving women as secondary characters (if they're included in games at all) joins other evidence that suggests developers and publishers just don't see the inclusion of female protagonists as wise. First we had studies demonstrating that games with non-sexualised women on the cover don't sell well. And more recently we heard that Naughty Dog was asked to push Ellie to the back of the cover for The Last of Us, though the team “flat-out refused”. Ashley Johnson, the actress who voices Ellie in the game, makes the sentiment behind the general industry trend clear when she says, “I get the feeling, generally, that they think games won't sell as well with a woman on the cover, compared to some badass dude on the front.”

It's difficult to read our own subconscious, but do you think you'd be put off if more games started to include female leads, with women on the front of the box? And in the specific case of Gears of War, do you think a female protagonist would ever make a good fit?