The next installment of Ubisoft’s long-running Far Cry series is coming in October, and Far Cry 6 narrative director Navid Khavari is giving fans even more details on the title today by diving into the team’s decision to give players a choice between a male or female protagonist. The first look at the character came only a few days ago during a gameplay reveal on May 28. The showcase highlighted the game’s world, new animal companions, and its hero, Dani Rojas. Though most of the gameplay reveal's footage centered on female Dani, the trailer quickly touched on how players will be able to pick the character’s gender.
This is far from the first time Ubisoft has included this option in a game. Far Cry 5 introduced this choice into the series and when another Ubisoft title, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, released last year, players could pick between a male and female version of the Viking warrior Eivor. The studio’s initial reveal of the female Eivor in an action figure, rather than in a trailer like male Eivor, sparked anger from fans and brought to mind Ubisoft's sexual harassment and workplace sexism allegations.
In a short, minute-long clip posted to Far Cry 6’s official Twitter account, Khavari explains the thought process behind the character of Dani Rojas and why choosing either gender will not drastically change the story. Dani, as the narrative director explains, was born and raised in Yara’s capital, and at one point is trapped into the antagonist’s forced labor program. This will be the backdrop for the character’s revenge story, and, while Khavari states that the gender choice for players was important to the team, it seems to have been equally important that the option not compel the developers to alter the game’s narrative. Fans can pick either option knowing that Dani’s story will remain unchanged.
This message about the open-world game’s gender selection follows quickly on the heels of another communication from the game’s narrative director about Far Cry 6's political nature. In a blog post, Khavari tackled the subject of politics in the upcoming title’s fictional world. The post’s opening line reads simply: “Our story is political.” This seemingly obvious statement, and the long clarifying message that followed it, was a response an earlier assertion that Khavari had made stating that the game “doesn’t want to make a political statement” - a position which fans of the game found unfathomable considering Far Cry 6 follows a guerilla fighter attempting to free an oppressed people from a brutal dictator.
Far Cry 6’s narrative director seems to have had a busy week promoting and clarifying elements of the game. This latest message touching on how Dani Rojas’ gender will not create divergent story paths is par for the course in Ubisoft games, but it's still good to get new information on the anticipated title.
Far Cry 6 will be available for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC, Google Stadia, and Amazon Luna on October 7, 2021.
Source: Far Cry 6/Twitter