https://wccftech.com/ubisoft-exec-didnt-want-female-led-assassins-creed-for-a-long-time-says-report/

A new report penned by Jason Schreier for Bloomberg follows up on the culture of sexism that was apparently rampant at Ubisoft among executives.

One specific example is that of the Assassin's Creed franchise, where the mantra was '(protagonist) women don't sell'. As early as 2015's Assassin's Creed Syndicate, the developers at Ubisoft Quebec wanted the game to have an even split between Jacob and Evie, the Frye siblings, as protagonists. However, the final game actually featured Jacob a lot more than Evie (which was the first female playable character of the series) in the gameplay sections.