A new report into toxic culture at Ubisoft suggests that 2018 open-world adventure Assassin's Creed Odyssey was initially designed with only one protagonist in mind: Spartan mercenary Kassandra. However, execs at the publisher demanded the sequel include an alternate male protagonist, reportedly telling the team that "Women don't sell."
This latest revelation is part of an investigative report conducted by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, which reveals that the Assassin's Creed team has faced a persistent uphill battle in regards to spotlighting women characters. The report suggests that Assassin's Creed Syndicate's Evie had her role significantly reduced during development, while an early blueprint for 2017's Assassin's Creed Origins originally included a scenario where protagonist Bayek's wife, Aya, would don the famous bladed gauntlet.
It should be noted that, as far as Odyssey is concerned, our own user poll shows the majority of our readers preferred playing Kassandra over her male counterpart, Alexios. And ultimately, it was stated by creative director Jonathan Dumont in a 2018 Reddit AMA that Kassandra's tale should be considered the canon story of the Grecian epic.
