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I wonder if we've seen all the companions. Probably so, but the full story might not be out there. Recent BW games have relied on a "choose one companion over the other" plot device and it would be a minor surprise to me if DA:I was different in that regard.
Off-topic, but I also wonder what the mandatory / optional split is, or if there are even optional choices.
Would it be so hard to follow the recent advice of Geena Davis on scriptwriting? Look at your character list, and change half the names to female? Is a companion's maleness really so crucial to their role in the story that you couldn't, at the beginning stages, go "hey, any reason why this elf Fade expert (or whatever) couldn't be female?" I'm not suggesting that genders be assigned at random, but if there's not a compelling reason for a character to be male, why not at least consider making them female?
This is absolutely key. I think in an ideal world a person would just write a few great characters and then flip a coin to decide which one is male and which one is female. A lot of writers struggle with writing women because they have this idea in their head that women characters need to be somehow very different from their male counterparts. Suddenly sex and boobs and weakness and quirkiness and sassiness all start coming into play because writers thing that that's what female characters consist of. Maybe that's why there's only 3 female companions. Because the writers think it's too hard to write women. I wouldn't be surprised.
Write a cool character, flip a coin for gender. Easy.
When the majority is always male by default, it is more likely bias is playing a part. Probably mostly unconscious and unintentional, but that doesn't mean it should not be addressed.
Of course we all want the most interesting and entertaining companions, but again, why would the majority of those interesting companions be male by default? Others have already remarked that various roles could probably work with a female just as well. Why would something as gender mean the noose for artistic integrity and creativity?
So they (Bioware) are aware of the issue and claim they are willing to contribute to change, and when they have the chance to, they do quite the opposite.
Bottom-line of this wall of text is that, yes, in an ideal world the ratio of male:female does not matter in the slightest. Then it just happens to be the way the way it is, sometimes in favor of the guys, sometimes in favor of the girls. But as long as the divide is always in favor of the guys, it does matter.
Can I just congratulate you on a wonderful post. I've narrowed it down to a few key sentences in the quote that have really stuck out to me.
I appreciate DG's response in this topic, but I think you've hit the nail on the head here - that this glaring bias can't be overlooked because it was perhaps unintentional. It's still there. And we should talk about why. 
How are 4 female companions acceptable, but one less female companion (3) means that Bioware has failed miserably "to walk the walk"?
How are 4 female companions acceptable, but one less female companion (3) means that Bioware has failed miserably "to walk the walk"?
We have never had 9 companions before, it's a completely different ratio
You typecast what my reaction might be to a game with an all female cast. Assuming I'd be as spoiled and rotten as to refuse a game because of something as stupid as what gender the companions were or characters were, or that it would even offer any sort of problem to my enjoyment of the game.
What I want is impossible to attain, because what I want is for people to stop bitching, whining, and moaning, every time they don't get exactly what they want from bioware. I want people to show gratitude, for once, when bioware does something good without trying to turn it into a denouncement of them for not pushing harder then they did for those peoples own agendas.
In fact its not even that, now that I think about it. I want people to stop shoving their complaints onto these forums to where everyone has to see them whenever they check the new content being posted here, in every thread about new content.
I am putting you on ignore after this, but I just want to say one thing.
You are horrendously overreacting to the discussions that we are engaging in. Every thread you go into, it seems you just stomp around shouting about how we're all horrible whiners and moaners and that nothing we say is relevant or matters in any way. You're entitled to that opinion, but when you troll threads in this manner of yours it stirs people up something fierce.
I am starting to think you are doing this on purpose.
If you don't agree with what's being said, and you feel yourself getting emotional about it like you are now, then don't participate in the thread. 
I don't mind not having a Qunari female companion. It will only make my female Qunari Inquisitor more unique. Having a companion character of every race/gender/class combination would inevitably make any Inquisitor feel somewhat redundant.
How are 4 female companions acceptable, but one less female companion (3) means that Bioware has failed miserably "to walk the walk"?
Do you really not understand how a 2:1 ratio of men to women in the party is a step backward from DAO and DA2?
And how relegating powerful women to background status is not an adequate replacement for giving us female characters with agency and control?
I'm not in the mood to 101 you on gender equality, but a quick google, or indeed, a read of these forums, might help you understand why Bioware has dropped the ball here.
Because Bioware tires really hard to be progressive in its portrayal of minorities and other disenfranchised groups in video games, and spends a lot of time talking about it and advocating for change in the industry. But they do not appear to be walking the walk, here, and are falling back on the very same cliches that the real world (and the game-making world) uses to explain the lack of women in the public sphere.
We call them out on it because we expect better from the company who allowed Manveer Heir to make such a passionate and reasoned call for equality at GDC. They talk a good game, and we expect them to play one.
1.) Kill me now.
2.) You're making it sound like countries are going to take away female suffrage if the male:female ratio in DA:I isn't lower. The male:female ratio is more of a coincidence than any plot to oppress or disenfranchise or anything of that nature. It is simply character design concepts being judged by the "rule of cool," nothing more. If they thought the best character concepts they had would make a 8 female companions and 1 male, I've no doubt they would've gone forward with it.
3.) A sizable chunk of the protests are "I wantz to bone a quanari chick" and it's hard for me to respect that on an intellectual level.
4.) Call me jaded, but I really don't see this move as having any socio-political ramifications. 
We have never had 9 companions before, it's a completely different ratio
Well, in Mass Effect 2 we had 10(12 counting DLCs).
Of those 10, there was 6 males and 4 women, resulting in a 60%-40% split(58%-42% counting DLCs.)
In Inquisition, there are 9 companions, 6 males and 3 female. That's a 67%-33% split.
To be fair, Cassandra's worth triple her weight in men, so I think it's pretty even.
Edit: That's her weight including plate armor, I might add.
Because Bioware tries really hard to be progressive in its portrayal of minorities and other disenfranchised groups in video games, and spends a lot of time talking about it and advocating for change in the industry. But they do not appear to be walking the walk, here, and are falling back on the very same cliches that the real world (and the game-making world) uses to explain the lack of women in the public sphere.
Wait a minute, wait a minute: this is a 6/3 split for party members with at least two female advisors. The Smurfs this is not. And Morrigan isn't even featured in the trailer, and we KNOW she's important. This is hardly "failing to walk the walk" in terms of gender inclusion.
-snip-
You won't hear this, but have a nice day fighting the good fight ma'am.
As for female qunari, there's always the Ariqun or Arigena to look forward to meeting, assuming we get to meet them in the game.
1.) Kill me now.
2.) You're making it sound like countries are going to take away female suffrage if the male:female ratio in DA:I isn't lower. The male:female ratio is more of a coincidence than any plot to oppress or disenfranchise or anything of that nature. It is simply character design concepts being judged by the "rule of cool," nothing more. If they thought the best character concepts they had would make a 8 female companions and 1 male, I've no doubt they would've gone forward with it.
3.) A sizable chunk of the protests are "I wantz to bone a quanari chick" and it's hard for me to respect that on an intellectual level.
4.) Call me jaded, but I really don't see this move as having any socio-political ramifications.
Nice - try to pretend our concerns aren't valid by accusing us of wanting to bone a chick? Great discussion skillz thar.
The fact that 6 men were judged "cool" and only 3 women were judged "cool" speaks volumes. It's a bias in favor of men. Again.
Some of us have issue. Alright?
2.) You're making it sound like countries are going to take away female suffrage if the male:female ratio in DA:I isn't lower. The male:female ratio is more of a coincidence than any plot to oppress or disenfranchise or anything of that nature. It is simply character design concepts being judged by the "rule of cool," nothing more. If they thought the best character concepts they had would make a 8 female companions and 1 male, I've no doubt they would've gone forward with it.
Dragon Age as a chick flick ... Ugh
Dragon Age: Osage County
Very well put.
I am highly disappointed at the way DA:I is going.
Because having the Legitimate leader of Orlais, the most powerful nation in thedas, the head of the Chantry, the head of the Mage Circles (Grand Enchanter Fiona), the possible leader of Ferelden,the likely leader of the Elven Uprising and two of the people most responsible for the Inquisition's existence all being female doesn't count for anything? Not to mention the Inquisitor can be female and in-universe this would be less than a non-issue for just about everyone, same with the Warden, same with Hawke. I'm a little upset at having so few female companions but I find the argument that it means that Bioware is not being Progressive as it claims rather silly when so many important people in the game are going to be Women
mmm i love the smell of folks telling women to suck it up and deal with inequality (no i dont)
I'm disappointed to hear that its a 6/3 split for male and female companions. With the smaller rosters the first two games had, the ratios were pretty good in my opinion, but DA:I is looking kind of.... :/ I'm conflicted because overall the game looks great but I keep running into more and more info that's slowly but surely mucking up my initially positive reaction when I saw the trailer that came out a few days ago.
1.) Kill me now.
2.) You're making it sound like countries are going to take away female suffrage if the male:female ratio in DA:I isn't lower. The male:female ratio is more of a coincidence than any plot to oppress or disenfranchise or anything of that nature. It is simply character design concepts being judged by the "rule of cool," nothing more. If they thought the best character concepts they had would make a 8 female companions and 1 male, I've no doubt they would've gone forward with it.
3.) A sizable chunk of the protests are "I wantz to bone a quanari chick" and it's hard for me to respect that on an intellectual level.
4.) Call me jaded, but I really don't see this move as having any socio-political ramifications.
1. Hyperbole, much?
2. No, I'm making it sound like Bioware isn't living up to its own oft-stated standards. Because it isn't. You say it's a coincidence, I'm saying it didn't have to be. There were ways that the coincidence could actually have been mitigated against, and Bioware chose not to use them. And now they are using the same old tired explanations for the results.
3. You want to lump me (and the rest of us who are disappointed with Bioware in this matter) in with them, that's your problem. It shows a lack of intellectual rigour on your part, but if all you want to do is dismiss the issue because it doesn't matter to you personally, have at it.
4. A lot of men don't. I disagree. It's only by calling this stuff out that there's even a hope that things will be better in the future.
mmm i love the smell of folks telling women to suck it up and deal with inequality (no i dont)
It's what I live for. *sniff* I couldn't imagine a world without it.....
I didn't say suck it up, I said I think your concerns in this situation are a bit misguided and overblown.
I didn't say suck it up, I said I think your concerns in this situation are a bit misguided and overblown.
Yeah you and half the forum when women express concerns about representation.
Funny, huh.
mmm i love the smell of folks telling women to suck it up and deal with inequality (no i dont)
I'm not saying anything of the sort. I'm saying that hitting the "SEXISM" alarm is over-reacting, especially when there are a large number of important female NPCs in the game.
There's exactly as many permanent female party members as there was in DA2 and DAO. It's just that the number of male characters has gone up.
Do you really not understand how a 2:1 ratio of men to women in the party is a step backward from DAO and DA2?
And how relegating powerful women to background status is not an adequate replacement for giving us female characters with agency and control?
I'm not in the mood to 101 you on gender equality, but a quick google, or indeed, a read of these forums, might help you understand why Bioware has dropped the ball here.
I do have a comment here, but I'd like to preface it with a clear statement on how I feel about the probable split.
I think it would be better if it was 5/4 or 4/4 with a choice or something along those lines. I think it's something the fans enjoy and that's enough to push for it IMO. 6/3 is disappointing to me. Variety is always good.
But I think whether characters are in the background just because they are NPCs isn't that cut and dry. The agency part is certainly true, no argument there. But NPCs often are more important characters than companions anyway. For instance, Anora, though lacking agency, is certainly a more important character than many DA:O companions, and Meredith was, as well. I don't think they are in the background at all.
Will that be the case with every female character people are pointing out in this thread? No, surely not. But based on what we know about the setting, I'm guessing at least one NPC female plays a role more prominent than probably all companions save Cassandra. A pure guess though.
In short though, I feel these are two separate issues, and that's where I respectfully disagree with Gaider. The game would benefit from both. I don't want to downplay the disappointment in the assumed split, I just think it and a representation of important, strong female NPCs are separate issues and shouldn't be weighed together, which I assume you agree with, as well.
Okay, but I'm talking about Dragon Age and Dragon Age alone.
They were much more balanced.
I was just posting statistics. Though Origins has the same as ME2 if you count Alistair and Loghain as 2 different people.
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