Aliens: Colonial Marines to Include Playable Female Characters in Multiplayer and Co-op

Gearbox will include playable female characters in Aliens: Colonial Marines. This was revealed at a recent panel held at PAX by the studio themselves.

This move was in response to a petition which was formed to change this. Currently, the petition has more than 4,000 signees and it even includes several cast members from the original film. 

Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox, commented that the reason they were quiet regarding the issue was because they didn't want to show off any character art that wasn't finalized. If he showed that art to people, then it would have "become a promise," which would lead to disappointment if the character design was ever changed.

"I want everybody to be clear that there are playable females in both the mulitplayer and the campaign," Pitchford reiterated. 

Gearbox will include Jennifer Running, a woman Marine that will be playable in both the game's multiplayer and main campaign. 

So that settles it then. Mind you, I don't even know how it got this far seeing as the franchise is known to feature a strong female lead in Sigourney Weaver's Ripley. 

Aliens: Colonial Marines is set for release next year on the PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii U.

Would you want to control a female character or does this skin change doesn't really matter at all? 

Thanks, Eurogamer