Mass Effect Writer: Creating Engaging Female Characters Shouldn't Be An Issue

The issue of gender diversity in video games is one of growing importance, as Mass Effect 3 writer Ann Lemay has added her thoughts to the debate. And she agrees that there are widespread difficulties in creating "engaging" female characters.

She uses her experience working on Mass Effect 3 as an example, of sorts - that key female Turian character Nyreen Kandros was only introduced to the game following the release of the Omega DLC. But during development, Kandros was originally written internally as an Asari "with no particular relation to [focal character] Aria or anything else to make her stand out," Lemay wrote on the EA Blog.

However, the writer helped evolve the character into something a bit more substantial. Lemay noted that, should the player wish to play as a female Shepard, this means that an Away Team can consist solely of three strong female characters, if desired.

The process in actually getting a female character approved for design was quite simple, according to Lemay - but she adds that Bioware's open approach to diversity is an exception, not the rule, in the games industry.

"In all of my years in the videogame industry, this request process was the simplest and smoothest I’d ever gone through, particularly for the creation of a significant female character," she wrote.

"It was never an issue. Which is just as it should have been. The creation of Nyreen Kandros was an incredibly positive experience—not just for me as a woman, but for every single person in our team who worked on her and brought her to life, and for the fans who got to know her as well."

"Creating diverse and engaging female characters—or any character that isn't both white and male—should not be such an issue. If we can move beyond the resistance to such characters in our games, both as non-player characters and as main protagonists, I honestly believe that we’ll end up with richer narratives and a broader audience, and the industry ends up with a bigger and more interesting playground."

"It’s a win-win all around."

The blog follows comments from Remember Me developer Dontnod, which claimed that publishers are resistant to financing projects that feature female lead characters as "they do not sell" compared to male protagonists.