There have been discussions about the character design in Concord and Dustborn, (as well as Star Wars: Outlaws in other forums,) their "ugly" character designs are actually INTENTIONAL, not due to the artists' lack of skills or experiences. There is actually a fairly new design philosophy, based on an actual socio-political movement, behind this whole "uglification"of female characters in video games, (i.e., Concord has an assemble cast, while Dustborn and Outlaws have female leads, but all their character designs are DELIBERATELY "uglified",) as well as in comic books, movies, advertisement, marketing, and other media.

This whole "uglification of female characters" actually started almost a decade by a DC Comics artist, Renae De Liz. She is also a feminist and political activist. In 2016, she laid down the ideas and foundation of the "Seven Parts of De-Objectifying Women", which are to remove the feminine attributes from female characters in the entertainment spaces, and replace them with muscular attributes. Since then, many other artists/activists have adopted, expanded and promoted her ideas. In less than a decade, her movement has been spreading like wildfire from comic books to video games to movies to other media to all aspects of life.

Here is an introduction to her design philosophy:

Anatomy of An Ugly Female Lead in Gaming (as well as in Comic Books, Movies and TV Shows):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HZsoPFXEZk

So, that is the story behind all the ugly female characters in Concord, Dustborn, Star Wars: Outlaws, and many recent video games that have flopped.

Isn't this thread against the forum rules ?

*rolls eyes* It's the end of days! Repent! =P

On one hand this is sad on the other hand it makes it easier for artists to stand out by just following true and tested design principles. I think we live in a great time for independent creators where large companies keep shooting themselves in their feet until they run out of ammo...

So you're trying to convince us, that the main protagonist of Star Wars Outlaws, who is able to smash a Storm Troopers composite armor with her bare fists, should be less muscular than the average female athlete? Actually you should be glad she doesn't look like the comic book version of Bane (which would be more accurate to her physical powers).

There may or may not be an intention or a associated movement to current mainstream character designs, but this is practiced since the beginning of gaming. Characters have to look appealing to their audience, this was and will always be the case.

There is a reason why Lara Croft looks like a stripper version of Indiana Jones in the earlier games, because the main target group were males in their puberty/early adolescence. Now that gaming is much more mainstream, characters have to appeal to female gamers too and in general the broader audience as well. As you specifically mentioned AAA games, there is the economic need to appeal to more than an age group of males of 14-21 years.

And by the way, "ugly" is very much subjective to the individual and beauty is even not the main reason for a character in games to appeal.

I watched the trailer and I don't find her "ugly" at all. Maybe she is not as beautiful as we see women in JRPGs, sure, but no she isn't "ugly".

I see no problems with her looks, it is all in the "natural diversity" and perhaps it even makes characters more interesting if they do not all look almost the same. So, unfortunately, i can not share those "critical feelings" so far.

Star Wars Outlaw did not fail because of "looks"; if it failed... simply because of the harsh DRM and in general unfriendly customer policies of Ubisoft.

The conclusion which that statement is implying (i.e. that female gamers don't want female characters to appear attractive and feminine) is a non-sequitur.

Actually, the vast majority of female gamers love to play as female characters who are feminine & attractive, like the original versions of Lara Croft were.

Conversely, they generally don't like to play as unattractive female characters (like in Star Wars: Outlaws, or any modern TR game, or any modern AAA game within the last decade or so, with a couple of very rare exceptions like Stellar Blade).

Ergo, making video game characters ugly pleases no one other than small minority of gamers, and it repels the majority of them (which is one of the main reasons as to why Outlaws, Dustborn, and Concord have all epically flopped).

Also, the quoted post is overstating the amount of female gamers. Most female gamers play mobile games on their phones. The vast majority of players of PC and console games are males.

Furthermore, contrary to what that quoted post states, players who are 22 or older don't suddenly want their characters to stop being attractive.

They should just remove the ugly Ubisoft-connect along with all the other DRM and it may "go well". Character is okay, no problem at all.

It is currently not on Steam but they may soon slowly scuffling toward them with a big excuse "why they have been late to accept more coins". Perhaps they have to remove this Ubi-connect first because although on Vapor Denuvo is usually accepted... foreign accounts are more of a struggle there.

Besides: Many males may be surprised but females enjoy to be beautiful, just as much as most males too. Yet they may not always succeed due to different reasons. It is just important not to "bring it up" because in most cases you can be certain... "they are working on it" and beyond that, all you can do is supporting it... quietly. Anyway, nope, it is no disadvantage bringing beautiful female characters "to the table" but... being beautiful is not a one sided thing, it got many nuances and shapes.

I do not think that female players are generally "on mobile phones" you can meet them just about everywhere. However, it is true, they are still the minority on gamers due to different reasons.

Unfortunately, most indie games released nowadays follow the exact same woke aesthetics agenda that modern AAA games do.

Concord hasn't shut down because of its female characters, but because of market saturation. This is totally unrelated to the topic.