Mass Effect Female Shepard Interview

VG247 had a chat with BioWare’s marketing director David Silverman on the introduction of the female version of Shepard in Mass Effect 3’s marketing. The reason she was never used in marketing material before, the fan reaction to the announcement that she would be featured in Mass Effect 3’s marketing and more all get covered in this article-interview. Here’s a sampling:

BioWare has so far committed to a Mass Effect 3 trailer featuring FemShep, as well as an appearance on packaging for the game’s collector’s edition, but BioWare marketing man David Silverman didn’t rule out further appearances as hype for the March 2012 release ramps up.

If this can happen now, why hasn’t it happened before?

(When creating a rich sci-fi epic like Mass Effect, you need to keep a certain level of consistency so people unfamiliar with the property can clearly identify who the hero is that they get to become,) Silverman said.

(Had we released images showcasing both a male and female Shepard, people wouldn’t be able to identify who the hero was or what was going on.)

Dodging the question of why that hero had to be male, Silverman said BioWare wanted to (acknowledge) the demand for FemShep material.