Battlestate Games, the studio responsible for the popular Escape From Tarkov, said it has no plans to add women as playable characters to its first-person MMO military shooter. The reason, according to the developer, is because women require too many animations and call for “a huge amount of work” to implement into the game.
Battlestate took to Twitter to confirm that, while it respects women both as people and active military participants, the studio won’t add playable female characters because it doesn’t fit into the game’s lore. “[T]here will be no playable female characters because of game lore and more importantly–the huge amount of work needed with animations, gear fitting, etc.,” the studio tweeted.
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Comments from Battlestate in 2016 about war being too stressful for women and a place only for “hardened men” drew criticism recently in part because women already serve in our military. In a separate tweet following the confirmation that women won’t appear as playable characters in Escape From Tarkov, the studio said the quotes “didn’t reflect the official position of the company” and were delivered by “not a key [Battlestate Games] employee.” The employee has since been reprimanded and “properly instructed.”
The statement is reminiscent of Ubisoft’s infamous comments on how playable women in Assassin’s Creed Unity would have “doubled the work” on animation and costumes.
Escape From Tarkov has been in early access for a few years, but has seen a resurgence in popularity lately. The first-person shooter became one of the most-watched titles on Twitch at the start of the new year as part of a limited-time promotion put on by Battlestate Games, and reports suggest the game will arrive on Steam at some point in the future. There may even be a console port somewhere in there.
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