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Eurogamer: Assassin's Creed boss discusses "devastating" impact of Shadows' diversity and inclusivity backlash

bender

bender

What time is it?
Unknown? said:
If they cared about diversity they'd make a story about a small subsect of people that never get mentioned or are generally not known of, not their current BS. How about the Amish or something?



Their vision of diversity only includes like two different ethnicities.
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Designer.jpg
 
StereoVsn

StereoVsn

Gold Member
18e7b18427ac4bfc829a7d62f5f480ce


I am sure his stance is going to help sales tremendously!

eduardo-sterblitch-eduardo.gif


Edit: What I don’t understand is what the fuck are executives doing!? Concord, Veilguard, this game. After seeing pushback and hell, even before that , why the fuck would they keep pushing while knowing it is doing to tank sales?
 
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laynelane

laynelane

Member
"This echoes the selfless bravery of our Assassin's Creed protagonists," he continued. "They fought for freedom, knowledge and the right to chart their own paths, just as we, as creators, fight to tell stories that matter in a world that grows increasingly divided. As the authors of 'How Democracies Die' so powerfully stated, democracies crumble when good people decide to stay silent. The same is true, I think, of our creative freedom when we allow fear to stifle our voices. When we self-censor in the face of threats, we hand over our power, piece by piece, until freedom and creativity both wither away. We cannot let that happen. It's time for us as creators to stand firm on our commitment to our values, by telling stories that inspire, that challenge and that help people connect. Our silence cannot become complicit.
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Dude, you're making a video game - not leading a revolution.

Also, it might have been an idea to listen to the good people of Japan who didn't stay silent on your brave interpretation of their culture and history. Then again, who cares what another culture has to say in this instance - there's virtue points on the line, after all.
 
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SJRB

SJRB

Gold Member
These dumb motherfuckers are still all in on the "historical accuracy" of Yasuke, eh? What a ridiculous fluff piece, this article. Embarrassing, truly. "We're so brave for giving the unheard a voice", man shut the fuck up, you donkey. Your entire company is in the gutter, you dumb fuck. What are you talking about?

Keep pushing this retarded "no no you're ALL wrong, this actually happened" narrative based on a wikipedia article written by a guy who has written a book about Yasuke without any actual trustworthy research. The dude wrote a wikipedia article about Yasuke, citing himself as the source lmao. This whole thing is a shitshow, easily debunked but these assholes at Ubi are too deep in to admit they were trolled by a nobody and now you have absolute tone-deaf morons like the guy in the OP pouring gasoline on the fire.

What the fuck were they thinking? Like seriously, what did they think was going to happen? Did nobody do background checks and research? There's like 30,000 people working there.

I always used to have a soft spot for Ubi because they made some legit great games but this whole thing has soured me on them in such a way that I hope it ruins them. Stupid fucks.
 
UnrealEck

UnrealEck

Member
The problem is, they are convinced they are the good guys. 'on the right side of history'. It's why they say things like 'shifting the cultural landscape'. They call those who don't agree with their weird cult ideology 'dinosaurs' or 'boomers'.
They are the holier than thou crowd and you need to bow to them or you're an 'ist and perpetuating 'isms.
 
{insert code here}

{insert code here}

Member
"Today, the stakes are higher," Coté said. "The stories we tell, the characters we create and the game worlds we build are instrumentalised by those who seek to silence creativity, to stoke fear and incite hatred. I believe we are facing what [author] Fareed Zakaria calls an 'Age of Revolution', a time when the real conflict is not between the left and the right, but between societies that close themselves off and those that open themselves up to the world. Throughout history, it's the open societies that have always eventually prevailed. While there may be setbacks over years or even decades, it is openness that has continually pushed humanity forward.

"This echoes the selfless bravery of our Assassin's Creed protagonists," he continued. "They fought for freedom, knowledge and the right to chart their own paths, just as we, as creators, fight to tell stories that matter in a world that grows increasingly divided. As the authors of 'How Democracies Die' so powerfully stated, democracies crumble when good people decide to stay silent. The same is true, I think, of our creative freedom when we allow fear to stifle our voices. When we self-censor in the face of threats, we hand over our power, piece by piece, until freedom and creativity both wither away. We cannot let that happen. It's time for us as creators to stand firm on our commitment to our values, by telling stories that inspire, that challenge and that help people connect. Our silence cannot become complicit.
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My guy makes it sound like they're on the front lines staring down mass hordes of demons and the undead.

Michael Jordan Lol GIF


When you're a creator then by definition you open yourself up to criticism, it comes with the job. This all reads like your typical, modern-day, privileged person crying because someone told them their shit sucks. Your game is trash, get over it and do better on the next one.
 
BigDeadFreak

BigDeadFreak

Member
DaciaJC said:
Sounds good! I look forward to a future Assassin's Creed where you play an historical figure in the Royal Navy as they combat slave traders, including native Africans, in 19th century Sierra Leone. No compromises, right? :D
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I like the idea but why stop there.

Maybe you could play as a British ruler of India who stopped the Hindus burning women alive when their husbands died?
How about being an Eastern European soldier fighting against the Mongolians as they try to colonise Europe?
Or a Roman fighting against the Carthaginians as they try to do the same thing?
Or a white slave fighting back against Barbary slave traders?

The possibilities are endless.
 
C

CityHunter1981

Member
I mean I get that it’s a work of fiction, but it’s set in Japan and not some fantasy country…

Sucker punch also took some creative liberties, but they did made their homework and did research about Japan at that time. Ubisoft clearly did not and just created a Japan, how it looked in their mind.
 
Ashamam

Ashamam

Member
Is he making a game or fighting a war? Seems like he is part of the problem, the solution being to include diversity in such a way that it doesn't feel forced and preachy. Telling people how to think rarely works in the long run, you know you have the balance wrong when the pushback bleeds over into the mainstream. Bad actors wouldn't get the traction they are without there being some truth in the criticisms.
 
TGO

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
BigDeadFreak said:
I like the idea but why stop there.

Maybe you could play as a British ruler of India who stopped the Hindus burning women alive when their husbands died?
How about being an Eastern European soldier fighting against the Mongolians as they try to colonise Europe?
Or a Roman fighting against the Carthaginians as they try to do the same thing?
Or a white slave fighting back against Barbary slave traders?

The possibilities are endless.
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Ironically this would probably be controversial.
 
Generic

Generic

Member
H

Hypereides

Member
I wonder how that internal investigation that Yves launched is going. If he's serious about saving his company, he best start flushing out these activists that managed to infiltrate their studios. Whispers about a Tencent buyout is a short-term bandaid. It bought him some lent time, I hope he knows that.

Lorianus said:
I hate this videogames are ART movement and thus above scrutiny, in every other line of work you get fired if you dont deliver your work but somehow every dev in this industry feels the need to create a manifest like the Unabomber when they get even the slightest pushback.
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Banjo64 said:
It’s pretty pathetic that he doesn’t realise he’s simply making a video game and that the target market want tits, ass, fanny and action.

Dickhead thinks he’s Plato.
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Seems to be a recurrent problem among modern day developers who snuck into/entered the industry in the recent 15 years or so. Especially, in AAA. They think they're "elevating" the video game format into new heights..

Video games were far better when they were just adventurous epic tales with twists and turns and larger than life characters until these auteur-ish people showed up and decided they wanted to redefine it like some wannabe Marcel Duchamps. I'm willing to bet AAA video games would improve significantly within a short timespan if they dropped this awkward posturing and accepted they're game developers.
 
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Clear

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
Newsflash: You can't shame people into accepting entertainment that they find unappealing.

As per usual the obvious fact being ignored is that INDIFFERENCE is what's hurting their sales, not any sort of "backlash".

Read the fucking room idiots! Stop hiding behind platitudes about historical diversity and give the audience something they can get excited about. Then, maybe you'll get the sales you crave.

And here's the real kicker; even if you do (wrongly) believe its boycotts and backlash that are hurting you, then maybe have a bit of humility and accept that the deplorables ARE YOUR MAJORITY MARKET AND SERVE THEM.

Its beyond crazy how they seem to have forgotten how the entertainment business works!
 
Kerotan

Kerotan

Member
Fbh said:
Can someone explain to me how any of this DEI makes sense from a business perspective?
Like we always hear about how expensive games are to make and how it has made publishers risk averse. We get so many sequels, reboots and remakes because it's safer than taking a risk with a new IP, we get so many generic open worlds because they generally sell well so it's seen as safer.

But then with stuff like this suddenly all the risk aversion is gone? No matter where you stand on the discussion about Yasuke being in the game they must have known that his inclusion would generate blacklash, right? Same as that non binary character in the new Dragon Age which unsurprisingly has become one of the focus of the online discussion surrounding the game
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Because there was a time if you weren't woke like Days Gone, the woke media and blue haired brigade turned on you and cost you sales. Were now at the opposite end but instead of the media cancelling you consumers are just losing interest.
 
M

MrA

Member
DaciaJC said:
Sounds good! I look forward to a future Assassin's Creed where you play an historical figure in the Royal Navy as they combat slave traders, including native Africans, in 19th century Sierra Leone. No compromises, right? :D
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if I get to play as giga-chad sydney smith I'm in.
 
ArtHands

ArtHands

Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
They are deliberately obtuse right now. We just want Japanese samurai as the protag for this AC game because this is set in Japan.

If they want to make a black protag so bad, just put him in another more suitable setting in another AC game.
 
{insert code here}

{insert code here}

Member
BigDeadFreak said:
I like the idea but why stop there.

Maybe you could play as a British ruler of India who stopped the Hindus burning women alive when their husbands died?
How about being an Eastern European soldier fighting against the Mongolians as they try to colonise Europe?
Or a Roman fighting against the Carthaginians as they try to do the same thing?
Or a white slave fighting back against Barbary slave traders?

The possibilities are endless.
Click to expand...
AAA will never make those so, I guess we gotta do it ourselves. I mean at least we gotta do it for the sake of diversity and inclusion.
 
StereoVsn

StereoVsn

Gold Member
Gaiff said:
Yeah, so never. Hannibal didn’t try to colonize Rome. He went there with the intent of beating them on their own turf and draw them out.

Carthage was a tributary to Rome. They were the ones getting squeezed dry. It wasn’t some kind of war of aggression that Hannibal attempted like the others you mentioned.
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It was a bit more complex than that. They really became Tributary till after Second Punic War. Both countries were vying for supremacy in the Mediterranean.

That said, Carthage was a Greek state and they certainly weren’t colonizing Italy in the “modern” sense, but they did have colonies in Sicily and southern tip of Italy.
 
Gaiff

Gaiff

SBI’s Resident Gaslighter
StereoVsn said:
It was a bit more complex than that. They really became Tributary till after Second Punic War. Both countries were vying for supremacy in the Mediterranean.

That said, Carthage was a Greek state and they certainly weren’t colonizing Italy in the “modern” sense, but they did have colonies in Sicily and southern tip of Italy.
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What do you mean Carthage was a Greek state? It was a Phoenician colony initially and the Greeks never conquered it as far as I’m aware.
 
Nasigil

Nasigil

Member
PandaOk said:
That last part is the absolute truth. Look at all the noise and desperation people have worked themselves into to try to force Dragon Age into being a failure. Yet the outrage is over one clunky quest line and even people who are playing it here are saying ‘it’s not woke like it was advertised to be’. It’s a PR campaign against anything can be seen as progressive, and anything, no matter how small the infraction, will be weaponized, with the goal of freezing out those types of stories. Because very few of the people ranting and raving are so stupid as to not realize what the end result will be. Creators intentions are sacred only so far as they line up with my conservative politics and if their politics don’t reflect mine it’s clearly a conspiracy where these poor devs are being forced to do these things.

If people were really just against bad writing featuring these concepts, then they also be supportive of good writing with these concepts. Funny enough you never see even 1/20th the effort to rewarding good writing and representation from the people getting triggered, it’s always and exclusively outrage and condemnation. Oh no there’s a black playable character in this series about using people’s blood to experience the past and aliens and magic. Suddenly they care about ‘historical accuracy’ in this series. When that dude almost certainly existed and *was a samurai* for a time. I guess the acceptable ratio of 90k games about Japan with Japanese protagonists sure is unbalanced to have 1 of 2 protagonists be Non Japanese/Non White in a single game. :p
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"then they also be supportive of good writing with these concepts"

Guess what, games that has tons of inclusiveness BUT ALSO good writing like Hades, Cyberpunk or BG3 are very much beloved. They are getting much better sales number than games like Veilguard or Concord, because gamers do voted with their wallet to support games with good writing.

Also Ubisoft is the one that kept bringing up "historic accuracy" to defend their decision to include Yasuke, which later turned out that much of the history documents they were referring to are actually modern fabrication.
 
U

Unknown Soldier

Member
I didn't have Ubisoft doubling down on the wokeness on my bingo card

I'll laugh if Shadows releases in February and they actually added more Yasuke is the African American savior of Japan into the game instead of reducing his role as was previously rumored. They should add more hip hop music too, maybe get Jay Z to record a new track just for Yasuke
 
Bojji

Bojji

Member
Unknown Soldier said:
I didn't have Ubisoft doubling down on the wokeness on my bingo card

I'll laugh if Shadows releases in February and they actually added more Yasuke is the African American savior of Japan into the game instead of reducing his role as was previously rumored. They should add more hip hop music too, maybe get Jay Z to record a new track just for Yasuke
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Yasuke destroying homes and killing natives + hip hop music trailers was not negative for black people at all...

People that are trying to be seen as anti racist are usually the biggest racists.
 
rm082e

rm082e

Member
Reizo Ryuu said:
then do that using naoe?
It's nearly the same setup as syndicate where evie was the assassin and jacob the muscle.
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I didn't play Syndicate, but my understanding is you have a required number of missions you have to do with each character. I'm assuming Shadows will be the same.
 
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