Asmongold claims market for "masculine" female leads in games is not that big in post about Intergalactic The Heretic Prophet

On December 13, 2024, Twitch streamer Asmongold made a post on X claiming that masculine-looking women leads in video games who are "non conventionally attractive" are not as desirable as some people in the industry seem to think. While he did not specify what particular incident or title he was talking about in the first post, the popular content creator clarified that it was about the recently announced game Intergalactic The Heretic Prophet at The Game Awards 2024.

While Naughty Dog's new IP has been received quite well by a large portion of gamers, some have expressed their discontent about the choice of lead in the title. For context, Intergalactic The Heretic Prophet has a black and female bounty as the main protagonist. This has led to some calling out Naughty Dogs for forcing DEI onto gamers.

Asmongold appeared to be commenting on these types of reactions in his post, where he wrote that such types of non-conventional and masculine female leads are not as popular as "the video game industry thinks":

"Maybe it's just me but I feel like the market for masculine, non conventionally attractive female leads in games isn't as big as the video game industry thinks it is"

The post has almost reached a million impressions within a couple of hours, with many people seemingly agreeing with his take.

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"Ciri looks fine": Asmongold comments on the Witcher 4 announcement and mixed reactions to the female lead in Naughty Dog's Intergalactic The Heretic Prophet

Intergalactic The Heretic Prophet is Naughty Dog's newest IP which has reportedly been in development since 2020. The protagonist is Jordana A. Mun played by Tati Gabrielle, known for her acting in The 100 and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. As mentioned, the reception to the trailer has been somewhat mixed, with some criticizing the developers for the choice of lead.

Asmongold commented on masculine women in video games in his post on X. Another major female-led video game that was announced at The Game Awards was the much anticipated Witcher 4 with Ciri as the main protagonist rather than series stalwart Geralt.

However, it seems Asmongold's post about the market of non-conventionally attractive women in video games was not directed to Ciri but specifically towards Intergalactic The Heretic Prophet. In a subsequent post answering a question in the thread about Witcher 4, Asmongold replied stating that Ciri looked fine in the cinematic trailer and his point was about Naughty Dog's game:

"Ciri looks fine? Geralt looked quite different in the first CGI trailer vs his in-game appearance so I would reserve judgement for now. The post is more so about the Naughty Dog game," claimed the streamer.

This is not the first time Asmongold has talked about gender politics in the video game and streaming space. Only a couple of days ago, the Twitch streamer had said that Grace Van Dien was a "diversity hire" for FaZe Clan.