I said earlier in the thread, its not the fact that focus testing was done, its the fact that somebody thought a relevant question to present in that focus testing was "Are you sure you don't have a problem with the fact that the main character is a woman?".
Focus testing is just like surveys. You mostly get results based on what you ask, and if you ask loaded questions you get skewed results.
"What do you think of the main character?" - standard question, insight into what public perception will be.
"Do you have a problem that the main character is female?" - this should not even be a fucking thing that needs to be asked. If people were spontaneously bringing up "I don't want to play as a woman" that's one thing, but it seems as though the focus testing process was pre-emptively assuming narrow minded bigotry.
It's far more likely the questions are more like:
"Did you find the main character appealing?"
"Did you identify with the main character?"
"Did you enjoy playing as the main character?"
Not the nonsense, biased questions you're presupposing in order to get angry. I mean, how do we know the question wasn't ""What do you think of the main character?" and that they simply paid special attention to gender references?
Focus testing makes sense. Games like Heavenly Sword and Beyond did not sell to expectations and it's only natural they want to ensure this character resonates with players.
Fabricated controversy based on not understanding that gender, does, in fact, affect potential profit if approached incorrectly. Focus testing helps them ensure they aren't messing up.
Unless, of course, someone leaked the document earlier in the thread and I missed it, and it had your questions like '"Are you sure you don't have a problem with the fact that the main character is a woman?". But even if it did? Makes sense - they want to make sure it's not a problem. Many things, including gender, impact our ability to identify with a protagonist. It's not a big deal.