Assassin's Creed Syndicate Has Series-First Transgender Character

For the first time since the series debuted in 2007, this year's Assassin's Creed Syndicate will feature a transgender character. This character is Ned Wynert, a transgender male, and one of a handful of quest-giving NPCs in the stealth-action game.

"Inclusiveness is something that's super important for us as a team," Assassin's Creed Syndicate creative director Marc-Alexis Côté told Eurogamer. "We've made a good push towards diversity and how we approach different subjects in the game."

Last year's Assassin's Creed Unity drew a fair amount of criticism regarding its lack of playable female characters. Syndicate, meanwhile, has two main playable characters, the brother-sister due of Jacob and Evie Frye.

It's also been revealed that the Assassin's Creed opening statement, which runs before every game starts, has been amended to say: "Inspired by historical events and characters, this work of fiction was designed, developed, and produced by a multicultural team of various beliefs, sexual orientations, and gender identities."

Previously, the second half of the statement said: "designed, developed, and produced by a multicultural team of various religious faiths and beliefs."

Eurogamer recently played two missions involving Wynert, and report that his gender is never referenced. Côté says he wants players to form their own opinions about him.

Syndicate is not the first high-profile game to feature a transgender character. 2014's Dragon Age: Inquisition featured the character Cremisius "Krem" Aclassi, the first transgender character that BioWare had ever created.

Due out October 23 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, Syndicate's PC edition arrives on November 19. The game is not coming to Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3.

GameSpot recently played a few Syndicate missions. You can read our impressions here.