Assassin's Creed III's setting "a bit of a pain" for female characters
Creative director Alex Hutchinson has said Assassin's Creed III's American revolution setting blew any possibility of a female assassin as lead character.
When Kotaku asked Hutchinson about the possibility of a playable female lead in an Assassin's Creed game, the developer revealed Ubisoft has given the matter some thought.
"It's always up in the air. I think lots of people want it," he said.
Unfortunately, Assassin's Creed III won't be the one to make it happen.
"In this period it's been a bit of a pain. The history of the American Revolution is the history of men," he said.
"There are a few people, like John Adams' wife. They tried very hard in the TV series to not make it look like a bunch of dudes, but it really is a bunch of dudes."
And while Ubisoft Montreal doesn't mind deviating from history in its storytelling, it does feel the male-centricity of the period presents some basic mechanical problems.
"It felt like, if you had all these men in every scene and [a female assassin is] secretly, stealthily in crowds of dudes, it starts to feel kind of wrong. People would stop believing it," Hutchison said.
The Assassin's Creed series includes loads of female characters both good and villainous, many of which push the boundaries of historically acceptable behaviour in order to present as full-fledged characters. None have been playable, although the multiplayer component does include several playable female personas.
Assassin's Creed III is expected in October on PC, PlayStation 3, Wii U and Xbox 360.