‘Assassin’s Creed Syndicate’ Will Feature The Series’ First Transgender Character

Over the past few years the Assassin’s Creed series, particularly Assassin’s Creed Unity with its all-white male playable cast, has absorbed some flak for not being inclusive enough. Personally, I think some of the hubbub over Unity was a bit unfair, as the Assassin’s Creed series has let gamers play as people of differing backgrounds and genders in the past. Really, by video game standards, Assassin’s Creed has been fairly progressive. But hey, the furor over Unity has led to a more varied, interesting looking game in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate.

Syndicate will let you play as female character Evie Frye, and Ubisoft has announced the game will feature a transgender character for the first time. The character in question is a trans man named Ned Wynert, who is one of the game’s more important quest-givers. Ubisoft commented on the inclusion…

“Inclusiveness is something that’s super important for us as a team. We’ve made a good push towards diversity and how we approach different subjects in the game.”

It will be interesting to see how Ned Wynert is treated in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, given the game’s historical context. Obviously the term “transgender” didn’t even exist in the 1860s, and Victorians probably weren’t as tolerant of trans people as we are now. Or maybe they were! I honestly don’t know the history, and would be interested to learn. Of course, Ned being transgender could be something that the game never explicitly mentions or deals with. According to Eurogamer, that’s how it’s been treated in the few stages they’ve played.

Either way, good to know people of all genders are allowed to get in on the brutal neck stabbing. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate drops October 23.

(via Eurogamer)

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