Back when a lot of our long running and beloved franchises were penned, there were a lot of unexamined biases floating about that became ingrained. From Gygaxes women don't game, to shops reporting there is no desire for fem mini in the wargmaning community.
This is such a fascinating part, considering the infamous "Dark Dungeons" Chick Tract (evangelical propaganda comic) from the 80s satanic panic era had a far more diverse idea of what a TTRPG group looks like than actual designers of the real games had.
(Wow, a mixed gender group with female game master, in 1984! Not that it means much, considering the "lesson" here was LITERALLY that Dungeons and Dragons is work of the devil and will make you evil or suicidal).
The female custodes captain is now canon, and everyone loves her.
Also it's probably worth pointing out that while Games Workshop has not exactly been at the cutting-edge of progressive its entire time, the early Warhammer products were satire of Thatcherism and often quite blatant about it. Warhammer 40K is satire in the same vein as Judge Dredd.
So yeah, making the modern "classic liberal" (ie pro-sexism, pro-homophobia, pro-racism, pro-racism, pro-imperialism) crowd cry is the company returning the best of its roots. More please.
This also feels like a good time to point out that while early D&D did not have diverse creators, it did have diverse characters. Azure Bonds (1988) by Jeff Grub & Kate Novak is set in a very European inspired area of a fantasy land, stars a female warrior and features a heroic Arab-coded mage (both of whom appear in the video game tie in).
In Elminster: Making of a Mage (1994), by the legendary Ed Greenwood, the titular character spends time living as a woman, in a female body, for reasons of personal growth. Old school D&D had plenty of ways for a character to lose an eye, or a limb, and keep on ticking on.
The objections to this only really begun when the player base started advocating for better representation, and input from creators who matched the demographics. That pushback is suspicious, since even the controversial Oriental Adventures (1985) encouraged players to be respectful and try to learn about the cultures depicted.
As a side note, if you're interested in the bizarre and worrying record of questionable decisions in D&D history, I highly recommend The Slovenly Trulls.