At first, Blizzard game director Dustin Browder didn’t really see the issue with the scantily clad female characters in the upcoming MOBA Heroes of the Storm – or any other MOBA, for that matter. When asked about the fighters’ outfits by RockPaperShotgun, he barely gave the question notice, claiming that he and the team were in no way sending a specific message.
"Well, I mean, some of these characters, I would argue, are already hyper-sexualized in a sense. I mean, Kerrigan is wearing heels, right? We're not sending a message to anybody. We're just making characters who look cool," he said."We're not running for President. We're not sending a message. No one should look to our game for that."
However, the director has been able to step back and think a little bit more about the issue since that interview. On the Heroes of the Storm blog, Browder has come out to apologize for his comments and thank RPS for bringing the issue up.
"I responded poorly to a statement the interviewer made about over-sexualized character designs in games, and I want to apologize for that,” he explained. “This is a serious topic and I don't want anyone to think that I, or anyone else at Blizzard, is insensitive about how we portray our characters.
"It takes work to make compelling characters, but it's important to take a step back to ensure that we're not alienating our players. We have an amazing roster of heroes and we will always strive to make sure that everyone can have a hero that they identify with and feel powerful using."
