Halo dev calls MGSV female character design "disgusting"

Halo designer David Ellis has spoken out regarding Hideo Kojima's recent announcement that the Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain character Quiet has been specifically designed to be "sexy."

Don't care if this gets me in trouble. This character design is disgusting. Our industry should be better than this. http://t.co/4CCaF1qNEP

— David Ellis (@DavidEllis) September 6, 2013

Industry full of man babies. Ugh.

— David Ellis (@DavidEllis) September 6, 2013

Asked if the Metal Gear Solid franchise's "eccentric" nature supported the character design, Ellis said, "Eccentricity is a cute cover word for objectification and sexism."

Sexuality in games can be "used for purpose," Ellis said, noting he thought it worked in Platinum Games' action title Bayonetta. However, in the case of Metal Gear Solid V, he said, "this feels lazy and exploitative."

"I like breasts as much as the next guy but this felt icky," Ellis said.

In a string of tweets earlier this week, Kojima said he directed MGSV's art director to make some of the game's characters, including Quiet, "more erotic" in an effort to encourage cosplay and promote figurine sales. He has since clarified these tweets, saying "sexy" was a better word to use.

"What I'm really trying to do is create unique characters. One of those is, of course, Quiet. She's a really unique character. I wanted to add that sexiness to her," Kojima said. "It wasn't really supposed to be erotic, but sexy."

GameSpot recently attended a live demonstration of Metal Gear Solid V prologue Ground Zeroes at Kojima Productions' new office in Los Angeles. Check out GameSpot's impressions for more.