Aliens: Colonial Marines will feature playable female characters in both competitive multiplayer as well as the main campaign in co-op, developer Gearbox announced at a recent PAX Prime panel.

This follows the backlash against the title when producer Brian Burleson said in an interview that Aliens: Colonial Marines wouldn't feature any playable female characters. This struck many as an assbackwards decision for a series notorious for featuring a strong leading lady.

A petition was formed to change this, which has been signed by nearly 4000 people, including several cast members of the original film.

"We realised some people were starting to feel bad. We exist to entertain people," said Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford.

He went on to explain that Gearbox remained quiet on the issue because it didn't want to show off any character art that wasn't finalised, because that "would become a promise" and lead to disappointment if the character design changed. So Gearbox decided to wait until PAX - the most recent trade show it's attended since the hulabaloo - to show off its female characters.

The Dallas-based studio then revealed a woman marine named Jennifer Running, who's playable in co-op.

"I want everybody to be clear that there are playable females in both the mulitplayer and the campaign," stated Pitchford, ending any doubt once and for all.