Blizzard dev apologises for attitude to over-sexualised characters
"I don't want anyone to think that Blizzard is insensitive about how we portray our characters"
News by Rachel Weber Senior Editor
Published on Nov. 25, 2013
Blizzard game director Dustin Browder has apologised for statements he made in a recent interview concerning the overly sexualised character designs featured in MOBA titles like Heroes of the Storm.
During the interview with RockPaperShotgun, Browder brushed off the the interviewer's concerns on the subject of hyper-sexualised female characters.
"Well, I mean, some of these characters, I would argue, are already hyper-sexualised in a sense. I mean, Kerrigan is wearing heels, right? We're not sending a message to anybody. We're just making characters who look cool," he said.
"We're not running for President. We're not sending a message. No one should look to our game for that."
Now Browder has now published a statement on the Heroes of the Storm blog, thanking RPS for raising the issue and apologising for his handling of it at the time.
"I responded poorly to a statement the interviewer made about over-sexualised character designs in games, and I want to apologise for that. This is a serious topic and I don't want anyone to think that I, or anyone else at Blizzard, is insensitive about how we portray our characters," he explained.
"It takes work to make compelling characters, but it's important to take a step back to ensure that we're not alienating our players. We have an amazing roster of heroes and we will always strive to make sure that everyone can have a hero that they identify with and feel powerful using."
Rachel Weber
Rachel Weber has been with GamesIndustry since 2011 and specialises in news-writing and investigative journalism. She has more than five years of consumer experience, having previously worked for Future Publishing in the UK.