Given the ever growing presence of female players in gaming demographics, it has been more common in recent years for female on-screen representation to be a bigger factor in major video game titles. Battlefield V caught a lot of attention this year by revealing that its cover art would feature a female soldier front-and-center for the first time in the series’ history, and games like Star Wars Battlefront II have noticeably featured a lead female character in their story campaigns. Sports games have been somewhat slower to make such progress, but now they are taking a big step forward by introducing NBA Live 19 female custom players.

Electronic Arts have announced the new Female Create-a-Player feature, as seen in the video above, from the official EA SPORTS NBA LIVE YouTube channel. EA brought in WNBA star Candace Parker from the Los Angeles Sparks to talk about her experience as a professional ball player, and how much street ball has influenced the sport all the way up to the pro level.

Street ball certainly has a strong presence in Live 19, as many of the game’s modes take place on street basketball courts, such as Streets World Tour, Live Events and Live Run. Female custom players will be able to be used in these modes, and GameFaceHD will also allow for female faces to be scanned into the game as well. NBA Live 18 included actual WNBA players in the game, and will now let stars like Candace Parker be represented in the Icon Abilities and Icon Progression systems as well.

What if I want to play as gender fluid? Boycotting the game until I have the option to set my pronouns.

— Ian (@accountofian) July 27, 2018

can they cook?

— Seth (@sethteejay) July 27, 2018

Why

— Kenny Stuth Jr. (@McStuthy) July 27, 2018

Naturally, the internet has brought out the trolls and SJW-fearing commentary in response to this news. However, much of the response on EA’s official accounts has been fairly positive, with many female players and fans of the WNBA praising the inclusionary features. Hopefully this will extend into EA’s other major sports titles in the future. Until then, it’s time for the ladies to slam, and be welcomed to the jam. What do you think about the NBA Live 19 female additions? Let us know in the comments below!

NBA Live 19 is set to arrive on September 11th for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Be sure to stay tuned for the latest NBA Live 19 news here on Don’t Feed the Gamers! Follow us on Twitter to see our updates the minute they go live!