So that whole "female main characters don't sell" bullshit

[Erttheking]

Do people honestly still think that? Because exhibit A

Spoiler

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/u4-FCsiF5x4/maxresdefault.jpg

and exhibit B

Spoiler

http://media.gamerevolution.com/images/boxshots/nier-automata-pc.jpg

Kind of proves that it's a bunch of horse wank.

A lot of arguments that I saw brought up is that often games with female characters that do sell well are part of long established franchises and that acts as a crutch. Well, I give you two games that sold very well, one being part of franchise that was only niche before this entry (and even then the connections to the previous games seem to be pretty thin) and one being an entirely new IP. Neither had any crutches that they could fall back on, they had to make their success on simply being good, and they did.

So do people honestly still buy that horseshit? Are there people still out there saying that there's justification for saying women don't sell well?

 

[Bindal]

Happens when you let executives (that don't know anything about the games they make money of) go just by their "test groups" (which are apparently only pre-teen boys).
You basically get a lot of crap that doesn't make any sense as justification why a game didn't sell well instead of, you know, the game being crap or just not marketed properly.

 

[Saelune]

I think this is a case of false equivalence, or whatever its called. I think the protagonist's gender is a low priority for most gamers. I dont doubt some people decide based on it, but I do doubt it was enough to matter.

 

[DrownedAmmet]

But then you have Prey where you can choose your character's gender which you wouldn't know if you just watch the trailer

 

[Erttheking]

You are making a mistake here:
http://www.vgchartz.com/game/85674/horizon-zero-dawn/ (2.55m sales)
Nier Automata I found about 1 million.

While Call Of Duty:
http://www.vgchartz.com/game/85359/call-of-duty-black-ops-3/ (14 million)

And as we all know in the AAA industry, only COD amount are considered "sold well" because the industry is borderline insane.

Then every single game made aside from COD doesn't sell well. Seriously, name five series that pull in those kinds of numbers on each installment

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

If the game is good it'll sell either way, of course. A female char can't doom a great game like Nier.


The issue stems more from people who are not confident in their game, trying to maximize every factor. If you're sure you're making a good game and truly believe in it, even if in theory you might sell more with a male hero, you still are confident that you'll sell enough to make creating the game sustainable.


It's not as though Nier has a heroine lead because of stupid things such as "inclsivity" and whatnot. Taro just likes women so he wanted to make a game with one of them as the main character. This is why it did so well despite it's not that high budget. When you make something you want to make it'll end better than any by the numbers approach.

 

[Erttheking]

Tomb Raider has always done pretty well, and that's been for decades.

 

[tippy2k2]

I'm probably going to regret this buuuuuut....

I don't think I've ever heard anyone in real life make that argument. It always seems like it's your "Racist Uncle" argument (you know, the "Black people have smaller brains than white people! It's not racist, it's science!!!!") that no one actually says as a real argument.

At best, it feels like a self-fulfilling prophecy by game makers (like how horror games were a dead genre) that they just kind of decided on at some point.

I'm on team "if the game is good, I will buy it" myself. I never had any problems playing a black man in Telltale's Walking Dead, a woman in Tomb Raider, or a badass space marine in Doom, even though I am none of those things in real life...

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

The problem is, and Jim Sterling made this mistake to, those games didn't sell well. He compared Zero Dawn to Bioshock infinite, which outsold it nearly 3-1.

Statistically speaking those games did not outsell male-lead games. Now that's a shame, because both those games are fun, but facts is facts.
I mean hell RE6 outsold RE7 nearly 6-1! That's how it goes!

 

[Smithnikov_v1legacy]

I wonder if Leslie Benzies, who has produced RDR and every GTA since III, leaving Rockstar means we might expect a female protagonist in the next GTA or RDR. At this point, I'd just appreciate it for variety. I found the three main characters of V unappealing.

Likewise.

Though I found Trevor Phillips entertaining, just not...you know...likeable.

 

[BrawlMan]

At best, it feels like a self-fulfilling prophecy by game makers (like how horror games were a dead genre) that they just kind of decided on at some point.

Jim Sterling said the exact same thing. What is with these execs or producers in the industry bending over backwards to make all of these false statements true by their own hand. And stop trying to cater to pre-teen boys, who most would not bother the games that "don't sell" to begin with. It's focus testing that is hurting the games and the industry.

I'm on team "if the game is good, I will buy it" myself. I never had any problems playing a black man in Telltale's Walking Dead, a woman in Tomb Raider, or a badass space marine in Doom, even though I am none of those things in real life...

I am black and usually don't mind what race/gender the characters is just as long as the game is good. But even if the game is good, a character can be written horribly. That is why I do not like CJ from San Andreas or Nilin from Remember Me. Though San Andreas I did not like gameplay wise in general. I do appreciate if the character is the same race as me and well written. The same applies if the character is a different gender or race from me.

 

[Mcgeezaks]

This is the first time I hear about this, I've never seen or heard anyone say that the gender of the main character matters much (except for bcell, but, you know.).

 

[McElroy]

Next time bring some non-PS4 options. No wait... Ok I get it, PC doesn't do retail game sales anymore and thus no charts. Anyway, Horizon has apparently sold pretty well. Not that I care, I'm never going to play it. Also it's still trailing the PS4 Killzone game - consistent on the dev's part.

 

[sneakypenguin]

I don't think that people claim females don't sell in a "this game didn't sell well solely because wimins way" but rather that they are still less popular. If you look at numbers even something like Mass effect only 18% of players used femshep. So maybe HZD hits 2.7 or 3 million with a male lead, maybe not.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Personally I've never believed that line of thought--when given the choice, I always choose to play as a girl--but I know there are tons of executives out there that totally believe it. And you can throw all the evidence in the world at them that says otherwise, and they still won't do it.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I wonder if Leslie Benzies, who has produced RDR and every GTA since III, leaving Rockstar means we might expect a female protagonist in the next GTA or RDR. At this point, I'd just appreciate it for variety. I found the three main characters of V unappealing.

I said it once before, but I wouldn't mind a Bully sequel where we get to play as a scorned cheerleader who has to re-climb the social ladder.

Though to be honest I found everyone in GTA5 unappealing, male or female. I don't know if changing gender is going to improve Dan Houser's shitty writing.

The problem is, and Jim Sterling made this mistake to, those games didn't sell well. He compared Zero Dawn to Bioshock infinite, which outsold it nearly 3-1.

That's not the most fair comparison, seeing as a) Bioshock: Infinite isn't an exclussive, and b) is the third entry in a popular franchise. I don't think the fact that it was male-lead added that much to those sales.