10 Ways The Gaming Industry Can Further Engage The Female Audience

8. Give Us Memorable Female Leads

Games like Tomb Raider have proven that plenty of men honestly don't mind playing as a woman (good or bad intentions aside). These games also prove that a female lead can be a badass without having to look either unattractive or unrealistically attractive. When you think about it, this has typically worked for male leads in video games. They can have facial symmetry and a likeable personality; it just takes some diversity in the writing. If we're lucky enough to have a female protagonist, she tends to just be a female skin on a male character that already exists, rather than having a memorable identity of her own. For example, Lara Croft is really just a female Indiana Jones/Nathan Drake, and Samus Aran has always just been the female version of a space marine. They're still memorable in their own right, but video games could truly use a female lead that is remembered for more than just being the female version of an already established personality.