Sony just released a new PlayStation 4 theme to celebrate this year's International Women's Day, and it includes some of the most epic characters in modern video gaming. International Women's Day has become important enough that many major companies put out a message in honor of it: last year, Marvel posted a video celebrating its female characters.

International Women's Day has taken on a new kind of purpose since the dawn of the #MeToo era that began when multiple sexual harassment claims against film producer Harvey Weinstein started to pour in, changing the conversation that the entertainment industry has about such topics. Before that, though, women who play video games, as well as those who make them, had their eye-opening moment with the rise of GamerGate, which supposedly began as a demand for more transparency in gaming journalism but became an excuse for some to harass women who worked in gaming. At one point, GamerGate was so widespread that there were discussions about Scarlett Johansson starring in a movie based on the women at the center of the harassment.

Related: Jessica Jones Creator Says #MeToo Movement Has Been 'Extraordinary'

Until recently it was fairly uncommon to see a female main character in a major video game. To celebrate this year's International Women's Day, the PlayStation Store released a new theme that showcases some of the most recognizable female characters in video games to date, including Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn, Ellie from The Last of Us, Kara from Detroit: Become Human, Chloe and Nadine from Uncharted and Freya from God of War.

Sony also released a video featuring women game developers speaking about how they are changing the industry from the inside out:

Over half of the gaming population are women, but women in gaming still have a long way to go. It wasn't that long ago that Twitch celebrity Ninja announced that he would not play games with his female peers on his livestreams, and even after he attempted to clarify his statement, they still came off as troubling in nature. Women gamers and developers also still receive daily harassment on social media.

The good news is that more developers are hiring women this is making the gaming industry a more welcoming place. Not only does it offer a more diverse perspective on games, but it shows in the game's stories, too. Gaming has started to become more inclusive, and games can only improve because of that.

More: PlayStation 4 Exclusive Games Coming in 2019

Source: Eurogamer