Millions of boys and girls have invested countless hours into Minecraft, the popular sandbox game that lets players explore, build and fight in a block-like world. However, the game does have one peculiar feature: there are no built-in female characters. The default avatar, known as "Steve," was a male character who players could customize and design. This led many feminists and parents to criticize the game for not representing a significant demographic in the game. While some players have designed modifications for the game that allow them to look like girls, they're still just dressing up Steve.
That is no longer true. Minecraft developer Mojang announced that it will add a new female skin for the avatar named "Alex," according to The Verge.
"Jolly old Steve doesn't really represent the diversity of our playerbase," Mojang developer Owen Hill told The Verge. "For that reason, we're giving all players opportunity to play with an Alex skin instead. She brings thinner arms, redder hair and a ponytail."
The addition of Alex to the game is particularly notable, since Mojang founder Markus Persson consistently argued that Steve didn't have a gender. While this may have been true, everyone perceived Steve as a boy, which created a point of tension.
"Alex actually debuted in the PC version of the game last year, but the skin was randomly assigned, so you didn't have a choice whether you played as a boy or girl. For the console versions of Minecraft, players will actually be able to choose whether to play as Steve or Alex. The new character will come with eight different skins and doesn't change the gameplay in any way," reports The Verge.
Alex will be added in the next game update, which arrives on Wednesday.
