One of TowerFall Ascension‘s new playable characters is loosely based on the infamous video game critic.
Editor’s Note: This post has been edited to reflect that the new character is loosely based on Sarkeesian and not her, per se. According to the blog: “This wouldn’t have occurred to me if not for Anita, and feedback from players has reinforced how important it really is. We’re very excited to immortalize Anita in a small way, as the alternate Last of the Order.”
Love her or hate her, Anita Sarkeesian has undoubtedly made her mark on the gaming industry over the last few years. The folks behind TowerFall Ascension believe that mark has been a largely positive one, and as a tribute to the critic have chosen to include a playable character loosely based on her to the game’s upcoming Dark World expansion pack.
“Anita’s work has been an inspiration to the TowerFall team,” said developer Matt Thorson in a blog post. “Her ‘Tropes vs Women in Games’ video series gave us a valuable new lens through which to assess our character designs.”
He went on to state that “TowerFall is about bringing people together, so it’s vitally important that the cast of playable characters makes everyone feel invited to join in. Simply put, this wouldn’t have occurred to me if not for Anita, and feedback from players has reinforced how important it really is.”
The character will be an alternate skin for the game’s Blue Archer, and will be included in the Dark World expansion when it launches for the PS4 in “Early 2015”.
Alongside the Sarkeesian-esque character, Thorson revealed several additional alternate skins that will be included in the expansion.
What do you think? Does Sarkeesian deserve this kind of immortalization? On the one hand, many believe she has been a beacon of hope for female gamers, and women in the industry by asking tough questions about gender inequality in games. Others think that she is simply “pandering” by addressing the obvious and creating deliberately controversy where there isn’t any.
Either way, this move from Thorson ensures that the critic probably won’t say anything negative about his game!
Source: Destructoid
