Discussions regarding the box art for The Last of Us were not taken lightly, explained Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann. Speaking to VG24/7, the creative director stated that there were several discussions regarding female co-protagonist Ellie’s appearance on the front cover of the game’s case. According to Druckmann, the idea of putting her on the back of the box was met with quite the negative reaction.

Does having a female character on the cover of a video game create low sales? It seems like some folks think so, and Naughty Dog wants to prove that misconception wrong. “I believe there’s a misconception that if you put a girl or a woman on the cover, the game will sell less,” said Druckmann. “I know I’ve been in discussions where we’ve been asked to push Ellie to the back and everyone at Naughty Dog just flat-out refused.”

As we’ve come to find out in the last few weeks, a game’s box art is actually quite important to some folks. I mean, just look at that whole BioShock Infinite fiasco. I think we’ve all come to accept the fact that Ellie is an integral part of The Last of Us. To relegate her to back of box status would be kind of weak, so it’s great to know that Naughty Dog pushed for this strong co-star to be featured alongside the playable Joel.

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