Bioware accused of deliberately making Mass Effect: Andromeda female characters ‘ugly’

GAMERS claim to have noticed something strange about one of the year’s most anticipated games. This model is at the centre of a furore.

GAMERS claim to have noticed something strange about one of the year’s most anticipated releases.

The Sun reports fans have accused game developer Bioware of making all its female characters “ugly”. Yes, really.

Several have claimed the women in Mass Effect: Andromeda are less attractive than the models they are based on, while male characters look just as dashing as their real-life inspiration.

In the game, you can play as one of the Ryder siblings, one of whom is male; the other female..

Left - Jayde Rossi, actress who gave her likeness to female protagonist of Mass Effect Andromeda.
Right - the final result from Bioware pic.twitter.com/UtUDlDJ9Om

— Terak (@Terak404) February 13, 2017

The Bioware fansite Biofan thinks actor Jayde Rossi, who gave her likeness to the female option, Sara Ryder, looks quite different to her.

On the other hand model Steven Brewiss, who was the inspiration for Scott Ryder, looks almost identical to him.

Feminist game critic Liana Kerzner told Heatstreet the difference between male and female characters indicated Bioware was “othering” women.

“For me the issue is not the isolated appearance of the character,” Ms Kerzner said. “It’s that it’s so different from BroRyder that one could say they’re no longer actually male/female avatars of the same character.”

Steven Brewis is a dead ringer for his Mass Effect: Andromeda character Scott Ryder

Bioware has yet to comment on the furore, but it’s prompted a heated debate over manipulating appearances based on gender.

“FemRyder is a totally different take on the protagonist, and since she is the alteration, while BroRyder adheres more closely to the actor’s looks, this is the ‘othering’ of women that feminists complain about,” Ms Kerzner said.

Jayde Rossi poses in an Instagram snap.

It’s been suggested that Bioware wastrying to de-sexualise the featured women, and they appear less like their model inspirations because they have been stripped of make-up and PhotoShop.

The ghost of large-breasted Lara Croft has haunted the game industry for years, leading designers to be accused of using women as lusty pawns in video game narratives.

This story first appeared on The Sun.