With Treyarch having just announced that CoD: Black Ops 3 will be having a customisable protagonist, changeable in both appearance and gender, this has gotten me to thinking: If a game franchise such as Call of Duty can bring in a customisable protagonist, what's stopping other games from following suit?
What's the big deal you might ask? Well, you have to look at this way; Call of Duty is often seen as a heavily male dominated game series, the franchise that all the dudebros play and is injected with more testosterone than a Michael Bay movie. And this very franchise has just gone and announced that for the first time in their games, you can play as a female protagonist, so yes, it's a very big deal. If game series like Call of Duty can suddenly ramp up the inclusivity a hundred fold by introducing a customisable protagonist, what's stopping other games from offering the same?
I'm not saying all game developers have to do this, by all means, still make games with a predetermined protagonist, I have enjoyed and will continue to enjoy these types of games. But if this does perhaps spark discussion or some sort of movement towards better inclusivity in an industry where gaming medium is largely dominated by straight white middle-aged male characters, then I am all for it. Fingers crossed.
Call of Duty finally has it right.
What do you think of this new choice by Treyarch? Let us know in the comments below!