The box art for The Last Of Us features protagonist Ellie very prominently. According to Ashley Johnson, who voices the young character, there was some push back against that idea from the marketing team.
“I feel like they don’t put women on the covers because they’re afraid that it won’t sell,” said Johnson. “It’s all gamers really know – and I don’t want to be sexist by any means – but I get the feeling, generally, that they think game’s won’t sell as well with a woman on the cover, compared to some badass dude on the front.”
“I agree with what Ashley said,” said Naughty Dog creative director Neil Druckmann. “I believe there’s a misconception that if you put a girl or a woman on the cover, the game will sell less. 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.”
Source: VG247
