Naughty Dog: AAA Games Almost Ready for Strong, Non-Sexualized Female Protagonists

We're not there quite yet, but the video game industry is almost at a point where it might actually seem like a good financial move to make a non-sexualized female the protagonist. After decades of macho, male leads and female heroines with what seems like more bounce than brains, The Last of Us writer and co-director, Neil Druckmann, believes we’re going to finally start seeing strong women take center stage.

“I feel like AAA games… we're on this cusp of at the very least seeing strong, non-sexualized female protagonists starring in games,” Druckmann said to Game Industry International. “You're going to see a lot more of those, and a lot more that are commercially successful.

“A lot of times in AAA games, people feel like they need to play it safe because there are so many parts of a giant corporation working on a global scale to launch a title that they don't want to take too many risks. But once you have enough evidence to say 'Hey look, this is actually not a risk, this can succeed commercially,' then creativity can flourish and new avenues can be pushed.”

Druckmann points to indies and their narrative prowess when discussing this new movement, and while it’s a bit easier for smaller studios to take chances, some publishers seem more and more willing to put their resources into something that was once just too risky. This will likely be a major topic as we move into the next generation, so keep an eye out for big changes to gaming narratives.