Old issues continue to frustrate, most notably in terms of diverse representation both in games and out. The excess amount of white male protagonists continues to be a problem, especially when developers are saying ridiculous things about creating women characters being too much work. There is, however, some progress being made. Fable Legends, Sunset Overdrive and Dragon Age all include women player-characters as an option, while there are lead roles for Lara Croft in The Rise of the Tomb Raider and Faith in Mirror’s Edge 2. Far Cry 4, meanwhile, features an Indian man as a protagonist. And while the conferences were dominated by white blokes (with the exception of Ubisoft, whose press conference was hosted by actress and comedian Aisha Taylor), the presence of women developers on stage at both Microsoft and Sony was welcome, even if there’s more work to be done on this front. The sleazy ‘booth babe’ culture has also dissipated.