Gamers declare war on women ‘rewriting history’

GAMERS are boycotting Total War: Rome 2, a colonisation strategy game set in 272BC, after it added more female characters, including Queen Cleopatra and Teuta, Queen of the Ardiaei tribe in Illyria, to “please feminists”.

The update, which means 15per cent of military leaders in the game are female, has caused uproar among customers. Player figures have taken a dip in the past 30 days and the game’s official forum has been flooded with negative reviews.

One player was banned from the forum after he described the change as “plain silly”. Ella Mcconnell, the moderator, said: “Total War games are historically authentic, not historically accurate.”

Historian Daisy Dunn said that while she “approved” of the inclusion of “powerful women from antiquity”, she would be “very surprised” if the amount of females portrayed in the game were an accurate representation.

A Total War spokesman said: “We will continue to reflect the role of women in positions of authority in the ancient world...at our sole discretion.”