Ubisoft Issues “anti-harassment” plan before Shadows

There is a point at which you’ve made not liking a game your entire personality, but even I think Kendrick Lamar is better psychologically than some chronically online people. The people who think Twitter (ram your Chinese letter for sh) is real-life, IGN‘s Instagram comments are the battlegrounds greater than those of World War II, and anything that isn’t a straight White man is a problem. Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be released later this week, and I really can’t say too much about it. However, according to a new report by French Broadcast network BFM TV‘s tech-based site, developers aren’t allowed to discuss it.

As reported by Kotaku last night, (don’t worry I don’t love them either) developers of the upcoming Assassin’s Creed have been advised not to post online that they work on the game or that they work for Ubisoft. I get it, we all rag on the publisher for several different reasons and some of them are valid for several varied reasons themselves. Sadly, we know why this is the advice being given to developers to avoid harassment, the world is just a bit horrible right now and full of people who need therapy.

When it was revealed last year, many seemed to have taken to social media platforms owned by man-children who can’t have an ounce of introspection to bemoan the existence of Yasuke. Yasuke is a historical figure who was Alessandro Valignano’s “cafre” (from kāfir, meaning infidel/renegade), but was freed from his slavery under the Portuguese Jesuit Missionaries and brought into the Oda Clan by daimyō Oba Nobunaga. Some quickly certain people decrying “Woke” and “DEI” took to their platforms to say it was wrong that a Black man in Japan under the order of a feudal lord should be called a samurai.

There is trouble with that whole “Woke,” “DEI,” and the so-called boycott of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Yasuke is recorded in history as a samurai. Though it is disputed, like most history it is difficult to say with 100% accuracy what rank or the majority of details most historical figures have, especially when you go into more “niche” parts of history. William Adams anyone? LA Noire, Killer 7, Battlefield 1, Dante’s Inferno, and Prince of Persia?

Do you want to make the argument that the series should be historically accurate because of poor education and hate-fueled online campaigns? Well then, you have to also argue child labor was prevalent in Britain in 1860. You’d also have to argue that the Boston Tea Party was heavily planned, the vote to execute Louis the 16th being split (it wasn’t), and then you have the more recent Viking adventure? The Assassin’s Creed series is not about historical accuracy; its entire conceit is that we don’t know history half as well as we think we do.

The fact the team at Ubisoft Quebec but also offices in Belgrade, Bordeaux, Bucharest, Changdu, Kyiv, Montpellier, Montreal, Odesa, Osaka, Pune, Shanghai, Singapore, Sofia, and Tokyo are told not to post online is stupid. Not on the part of Ubisoft, according to reports, they are doing something to protect employees for once. It is stupid simply for the fact that this is how it is dealt with. There is plenty more to be said about Shadows, which we’ll be able to talk about when the embargo lifts, but this isn’t one of them.

Unlike Kotaku, I’m not going to pull quotes about people talking about mindfulness apps and I’ll not go into the sales records of Star Wars Outlaws and such like BFM Tech & Co. Realistically, the sales don’t matter to this discussion until after the release, and the performance and expectations for Outlaws is done and gone. The point here should be that developers who worked on Assassin’s Creed Shadows, for however long with the prolonged development time of modern titles, are being told to shut up and not talk about it. They are told not to be outwardly proud of something that they made.

There is more pressing controversy surrounding Shadows such as the broken Torri gate statue and a previous release date being on that of a terror attack. A spokesperson had to talk to PCGamesN, said, “Our stance has always been that team members’ social media channels are their own. Our top priority is the safety of our employees, including online, which is why, as a standard practice across Ubisoft, we offer guidance on navigating social media, digital safety, and support for team members’ well-being. We also share resources to help prevent and protect against online harassment, something our teams have unfortunately faced.” That seems baffling.

I honestly can’t fathom why anyone cares so much to make “anti-woke,” “anti-DEI,” and boycotting a game (a Ubisoft game no less) their entire personality. If you don’t like it, then go find something else. Go find something that makes you happy; go do something that isn’t causing this; go find something better to do with your time. There are hundreds of games to play, go find something else if you don’t want to play this one. Now if you don’t mind, I need to go finish a review of Shadows ahead of the release later this week instead of talking about stupidity by so-called fans.