Mark Rubin on why Call of Duty finally recognized female players (interview)

Among the 10 million people who play Call of Duty multiplayer every day, you can bet there are a lot of women. Overall, women represent 45 percent of players. But in the decade-long history of the blockbuster video game, you couldn’t play as a woman. Now, in the multiplayer version of the upcoming Call of Duty: Ghosts, you’ll finally be able to choose a female character.

Mark Rubin, the executive producer at Infinity Ward, the developer of the game, explained why that’s the case in an interview with GamesBeat. Adding a gender option was one of many design decisions that Rubin explained in our talk at the Call of Duty multiplayer event this week in downtown Los Angeles. Here’s an edited transcript of our interview.