It will be possible to play as a woman in Sunset Overdrive, developer Insomniac Games said today, while taking a potshot at another major fall 2014 title in which that won't be possible: Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed Unity.
On the latest episode of Sunset TV, the series of videos in which Insomniac provides details on Sunset Overdrive and answers questions from the community, the studio explained how traps work in the game. And when a fan asked if she would be able to play as a woman in Sunset Overdrive, associate community manager Brandon Winfrey responded in the affirmative and explained some more of the game's character customization options.
"Self-expression is super-important to us," said Winfrey. "So you can be female, you can be male, you can be different skin tones, you can be different body types."
Winfrey also confirmed that the same clothing options will be available to all characters regardless of sex.
"All the clothing is gender-neutral, so if you want to be a dude in a skirt, you can be a dude in a skirt, all right? Just be who you want to be," he continued.
During Winfrey's answer, the episode played video footage of Sunset Overdrive featuring a female character clad in Assassin's Creed-esque robes. This is a clear reference to the controversy that arose during E3 last week surrounding Assassin's Creed Unity, which won't offer the ability to play as women because it would have required too much additional work. Publisher Ubisoft later released a statement saying that it recognized the "valid concern around diversity in video game narrative."
Sunset Overdrive is set for release Oct. 28 exclusively on Xbox One. For more, check out our in-depth E3 story on the game, and our previous preview, which features artwork of the character customization options.
