Robin Bhuyan
Ubisoft is one of the most successful gaming companies worldwide. Known for the successful franchises like Prince of Persia and Far Cry, the Assassin’s Creed franchise became one of Ubisoft’s biggest and longest-running series. However, despite its reputation for vast open-world storytelling with historical immersion, one thing has stood out: Ubisoft has consistently hesitated to fully commit to female protagonists in its mainline games. Instead, they take a “safe” approach, ensuring that whenever they introduce a female lead, they also provide a male option. This pattern raises an important question: why does Ubisoft feel the need to hedge its bets when it comes to female protagonists?
The Pattern of Avoiding Fully Female Leads
Looking at Ubisoft’s history, we see a clear pattern. The first several Assassin’s Creed games featured strictly male protagonists: Altair, Ezio, Connor, Edward, Shay and Arno. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (2015) was the first main entry where you could play as Evie Frye, but at the same time, the game also allowed you to switch to Jacob Frye anytime you wished.
Yes, there was Assassin’s Creed Liberation (2012) which released three years before Syndicate, where Ubisoft had its first fully female protagonist, Aveline de Grandpré—but this was a side game, not a main entry. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that many Assassin’s Creed players are not even aware of Aveline!
While there are some instances in Assassin’s Creed Origins (2017), where you could play as Aya, Bayek’s wife. So, you could say there was a potential to bring a sequel or at least a DLC, where you could play entirely as Aya, but this was a missed opportunity! Aya was a strong and compelling character, and one of the key founders of the Assassin Brotherhood, (originally known as the Hidden Ones) making her an ideal candidate for a standalone experience. However, Ubisoft chose to keep her as a supporting character, once again avoiding the risk of a full-fledged female lead in a major title.
Even when they introduced Kassandra in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Eivor in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, both games still provided male counterparts (Alexios and Male Eivor, respectively), despite Ubisoft later confirming that the female versions were canon.
Ubisoft has never released a mainline Assassin’s Creed game where a female protagonist is the sole option. This stands in stark contrast to how male protagonists are handled—whenever the lead is canonically male, no choice is given. It’s only when a female lead is involved that Ubisoft suddenly decides player choice is necessary.
Fear of Alienating the Male-Dominated Gaming Market?
One of the main reasons Ubisoft plays it safe is its target audience. The gaming industry, especially action-adventure and RPG genres, has traditionally been dominated by male players. Ubisoft likely fears that if they made a game with only a female protagonist, they would risk alienating a portion of their core audience. This fear isn’t entirely unfounded—other major publishers have faced backlash when forcing diversity without providing options. However, by offering both male and female choices, by offering both male and female choices, Ubisoft seems to be trying to appeal to as many players as possible, rather than taking a definitive stance on a single protagonist.
Historically, video game publishers have struggled to market female-led games to a broad audience. So, the assumption is that male gamers—who make up a large share of Ubisoft’s player base—are more likely to buy a game with a male lead. This explains why, despite Kassandra being the canonical protagonist of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Ubisoft’s promotional materials often featured Alexios instead. Similarly, Eivor was canonically female, but much of the game’s marketing depicted the male version. This cautious approach suggests Ubisoft’s hesitation to fully invest in a female-led narrative without a backup plan.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows: Forced Diversity?
In their latest game, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft has taken another approach to handling the protagonist issue. They introduced Yasuke, a Black samurai in Feudal Japan—whom they claim is historical—alongside Naoe, a female shinobi. This has been hugely criticized by many players, with several players refusing to buy the game because of the game’s “forced diversity” and “wokeness”. They do have a point- why would you want to play as a black person when the game is set in medieval Japan- it doesn’t make much sense, does it?
However, the controversy is not because players are “racist” towards Yasuke. Games like GTA: San Andreas have been huge successes despite featuring a Black protagonist. Even in Assassin’s Creed Origins, no one complained about playing as Bayek, an African character, because it suited the narrative. Though now it seems like Yasuke will be only a supporting character, while Naoe will remain the main “Assassin” character, many people are still dissatisfied with the decision.
However, if we think about it, this move is interesting because it almost seems like Ubisoft is trying to “encourage” players to choose Naoe by making Yasuke an unusual (and somewhat controversial) choice. Most players might prefer Naoe simply because Yasuke’s presence in Japan’s historical setting feels forced. Even players who would not usually prefer a female lead, would now choose Naoe over Yasuke!
This strategy allows Ubisoft to once again provide options while subtly pushing for a female protagonist without outright locking the player into one. Instead of playing such mind tricks, wouldn’t it be better if they instead made a game with a single female lead? But as always, they introduce a second, more controversial male character, making the female protagonist seem like the “better” choice for players, who would otherwise choose the male option.
Ubisoft’s Reluctance to Take Risks
Ultimately, Ubisoft’s reluctance to feature a single, locked female protagonist in a mainline Assassin’s Creed game seems to come down to risk aversion. They don’t want to face backlash from traditional gamers, nor do they want to alienate female audiences. Their approach is to play both sides—offering female leads while ensuring that a male alternative is always available.
This tactic highlights Ubisoft’s unwillingness to commit fully to female protagonists, despite their claims of embracing diversity. Until they release a mainline game where a female lead is the only option, it’s clear they will continue their “safe” approach, balancing audience expectations instead of making a bold decision.
Single-Player Games with Female Leads Can Succeed
Despite Ubisoft’s hesitance, many successful single-player games have proven that a female protagonist can lead a game to critical and commercial success if the story and gameplay are strong. Some notable examples include:
- Tomb Raider series – Lara Croft is one of gaming’s most iconic characters, and the reboot trilogy (Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Shadow of the Tomb Raider) proved that a strong female lead can drive a blockbuster franchise.
- Horizon series – Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West featured Aloy as the protagonist, and both games were massive hits, praised for their storytelling and gameplay.
- The Last of Us Part II – Despite controversy, the game’s focus on Ellie as a lead character did not stop it from achieving commercial and critical success.
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Life Is Strange – The Life Is Strange franchise is a series of narrative-driven choice-based adventure games, and it all started with a female protagonist Max Caulfield. The game has been critically acclaimed for its emotional depth and storytelling.
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Bayonetta series – This stylish action game series starring the powerful witch Bayonetta has been successful for years, proving that a female lead can carry an action-packed franchise.
- Control – Remedy Entertainment’s supernatural action-adventure game with horror elements was widely praised for its gameplay and narrative depth.
These games prove that if the gameplay, world-building, and storytelling are compelling, players will embrace a female protagonist without issue. Ubisoft’s reluctance to take this step in a mainline Assassin’s Creed game only shows that they are just unwilling to take risks, and it is indeed sad to see that they are resorting to tricks like forcing Yasuke upon players, a character that nobody wants, just so that people would prefer playing as the female character.
