Cliffy B hopes for less “dudebro” in future Gears of War games
Anthony Shelton September 14, 2012 - 7:15 pmNews: Cliff Bleszinski doesn’t want as much “dudebro” in future Gears of War games, and believes he and Epic are “thought leaders” when it comes to the representation of women in videogames.
The heroes of the Gears of War franchise have become a staple. You know them when you see them or hear them. Giant muscles and gritty faces make them easily identifiable, and their potty mouths and celebrations of violence mark them as typical manly men. But Gears designer Cliff Bleszinski actually wants the franchise to be less “dudebro” in the future.
In an AMA on Reddit, he explains, “…I never wanted to build a game with muscle-bound characters; the art department produced the concepts and models and they simply felt good slamming into walls and cutting one another in half with chainsaw guns. I do hope that in the future we can get some of the “dudebro” out of Gears, to be honest.”
That’s the males in Gears of War, but what about the other side of the gender divide? The design of women and how they’re portrayed in their games is careful design choice by himself and the team at Epic. “As a side note I consider myself and Epic as “thought leaders” in regards to how women are depicted in our medium,” said Bleszinski. “I can appreciate a bikini clad warrior as much as the next guy, but in our games I want to make sure that proportions are more realistic and that women can kick ass just as well as the guys.”
In support of his point, he made reference to Gears of War: Judgement‘s new female character, Sophia Hendrick, “who is a strong and fiery redhead who kicks butt.”
While Cliffy B and Epic have done some work to not dress their characters in skimpy clothing in recent games, there’s still not enough thought going into how women are portrayed personality-wise. Anya in Gears of War 3 was a character with feminine emotions, but other women tend to be a generic stereotype of what a strong woman is.
Check out what else Cliffy B has said about anything and everything right here at BeefJack.
