Naughty Dog Had to Specifically Request Female Testers for The Last of Us

If you needed more proof that the games industry has more than a few underlying biases when it comes to gender, The Escapist has some unsettling information from a creative director at Naughty Dog – Neil Druckman – that reveals yet more evidence that the concerns of female players are often ignored. According to Druckman, when Naughty Dog set about getting a research firm to conduct focus groups to test its upcoming game The Last of Us, that firm didn't plan to ask the opinions of any female players at all until Naughty Dog told them to.

Another aspect that influences how a game is promoted is focus-testing. Players are rounded up and are asked to view materials and answer some quantitative and qualitative questions about it. My big surprise during this process is that the research group wasn't planning on focus-testing female gamers – it's something we had to specifically request. I hope this is a relic of the past that will soon go away.

While women play all sorts of games and should thus be considered a possible part of any video game audience, The Last of Us is an especially worrying case because it prominently features a female character. Ellie may not be the protagonist, but the game is all about her, and she's there every step of the way. That's why Naughty Dog refused when it was suggested she be pushed to the back of the box.

How long do you think it'll be before we don't have to fight to get female players and female characters recognised to the same degree as male ones?

The Last of Us is due to launch for PS3 on June 14.