Aliens: Colonial Marines will have female characters according to Gearbox

Back in July, reports indicated that the video game based on the classic Aliens franchise surfaced claiming that the game would have no female characters. Considering that the main character in the movies was Sigourney Weaver, very much a woman, that seemed very odd to me. Reports are now surfacing that there will be female characters in the video game.

Kotaku reports that you will be able to play and customize female Marines in the Aliens: Colonial Marines video game. Female characters will be available in co-op play and there will reportedly be multiple female avatars users can choose from for multiple player action. The announcement that female players would be included apparently came early because of an online petition accusing Gearbox of excluding female characters in the game.

The petition has over 3800 signatures and allegedly has signatures from some of the actors in the 1986 Aliens film both male and female. The rigmarole over female characters in the video game apparently started from an interview given by producer Brian Burleson after E3. During that interview, Burleson said there were no playable female characters.

According to Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford, Burleson meant there were no playable female characters in the E3 demo. Pitchford told Kotaku that female avatars in the game were beneficial for visual diversity and game play diversity. Many of the details on character avatars are still being worked on. The announcement of female characters was made before Gearbox finalized many of the game details.

[via Kotaku]