Support NeoGAF

[kruis]

The game is good despite the culture war bullshit.

Almost all of it is surrounding Yasuke, a character who you can pretty much ignore for 99% of your playtime.

I've played this game for 22 hours now and the game forced me to play as him for all but 20 minutes, tops.

Let's not forget the overwhelming attempt at gaslighting from Ubi before they were forced to backpedal. It was them who created this mess. They insisted on the historical accuracy, the flagrant lying about this character's historical significance. They were trying to school actual Japanese people on their history and culture.

You can't push a narrative like this, tell anyone who questions it they're racist and when the backlash becomes too big to control and the facts that you base your entire premise on turn out to be fictional fabrications from a narcissist writer just go "hey you know he was maybe not that real but what if he was? Who's the idiot now huh?".

This whole thing was a marketing disaster.

That's the most important point: "The game is good despite the culture war bullshit.". And that's why I dislike people who not only want a GOOD game to fail, but want to see bad sales take down an entire company and are doing their utmost to make that insane wish come true.

I agree with the push back against woke, I hate it myself, but I don't agree with the sentiment that the best thing that could happen is when the entire, woke infested western games industry collapses so the whole thing can be rebuilt again from scratch.

 

[Baemono]

The fact that it had to be forced to begin with is a problem in its self

Depends on the company. ESG is (or at least was until recently) very big among companies, and investors are (or were) looking for companies with the highest ESG score possible.

 

[Bernardougf]

LoL .. you can make a FIFA/EA FC with only trans players and still sell a lot probably... taking one popular franchise and injecting with this shit dosent win you anything outside less sales that it should have ... this fabricated "success" that is being pushed daily by the woke media as some form of "win" is laughable...

The game is selling ? Sure .. you can bet your house that would have selled more if the woke shit and pandering wasn't there.

Whats next ? "GTA6 selling millions with a lot of DEI content prooves that the culture war is over" ? Lol.

 

[Randall365]

Really wonder what the metrics for success are here for Ubisoft.

This is what AC2 did 16 years ago.

"According to pre-official sales estimates, Ubisoft announced that Assassin's Creed II sold 1.6 million copies worldwide during its first week of sale, representing a 32 percent increase over the first week retail performance of the original Assassin's Creed. As of May 2010, the game has sold 9 million copies."


9 million copies in 6 months

On probably a budget 1/3rd what AC Shadows has.

It's hard to compare budgets, as AC2 launched at £39.99 whereas Shadows is £70 plus. Comparing unit sales probably makes more sense.

It will be interesting to see how digital sales affect things - I buy digital now and so there is an incentive to wait for a sale unless you really, really want a game on release. Years ago, you'd just buy from the cheapest shop.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

No. It's not really that woke. It can be ignored. Next dragon age level of woke will get tore up again.

 

[samoilaaa]

Yes success

how many copies did the game sell ?

 

[Hudo]

you can make a FIFA/EA FC with only trans players and still sell a lot probably..

About that...

 

[AJUMP23]

Politics always has a new thing to argue about. It is what Washington warned against with the 2 party system.

 

[Kotaro]

250+million dollar budget, 2 million PLAYERS in 3 days = Success?!?!

The standard is surely very low for a woke game

 

[gtabro]

Uni are sponsoring the self proclaimed terrorism propagandist Hasan Piker.

0 morals.

Just a greedy company with shit games. Fuck em.

 

[Zacfoldor]

IMHO feels like Ubi did a lot of spinning with these numbers. I bet we find things out and the success gets a little muddied but we shall see.

To answer your question, ACShadows isn't even super woke. Imagine what we can do when we have material.

That said, I'm glad your generic shit nothing game is fun to you. I mean the game is slop. Why would anyone buy this? It is nostalgia? You have bad tastes and are a major reason gaming isn't as good anymore. You have lower standards. Good news is that even if Ubisoft has one nostalgia fueled lesser-failure, they won't survive long on generic trash like this. They will either have to get better or they will eventually have to sell off IP. There is no way they make a living off games like this much longer. It's trash.

To the bigger question of when will we stop? When we win.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

250+million dollar budget, 2 million PLAYERS in 3 days = Success?!?!

The standard is surely very low for a woke game

You're getting boring my man. I wonder when you'll necro bump the next sales thread.

 

[PhillMeCream]

At the end of the day, it's just a game. If you don't like it, simply don't buy it.
There are plenty of other games about samurai.
As far as it being "woke" if I'm not mistaken, homosexuality existed among samurai, so it was actually common. It's just a grifter complaining about Yasuke because he's black. I didn't think people took assassin creed to be a historically accurate game lol

 

[STARSBarry]

They made the samurai gay and black and you think people who noticed are the ones pushing the culture war.

 

[Kotaro]

You're getting boring my man. I wonder when you'll necro bump the next sales thread.

woke Ubi shills like to keep rehashing the words to control the narrative that somehow the game is successful, I'm just going to keep reminding them what real success looks like: Monster Hunter Wilds (8 million SOLD in 3 days) and Dragon Ball (3 million SOLD in one day)

 

[Topher]

Uni are sponsoring the self proclaimed terrorism propagandist Hasan Piker.

How are Ubi sponsoring him?

 

[analog_future]

woke Ubi shills like to keep rehashing the words to control the narrative that somehow the game is successful, I'm just going to keep reminding them what real success looks like: Monster Hunter Wilds (8 million SOLD in 3 days) and Dragon Ball (3 million SOLD in one day)

 

[ClosBSAS]

what success? its not going to save ubisoft....it sold, like all of the ac titles sell...nothing mindblowing either....honestly, dont see it as a success...maybe another opportunity fo rubisoft to get on track, but nah...

 

[Kacho]

How are Ubi sponsoring him?

 

[MMaRsu]

woke Ubi shills like to keep rehashing the words to control the narrative that somehow the game is successful, I'm just going to keep reminding them what real success looks like: Monster Hunter Wilds (8 million SOLD in 3 days) and Dragon Ball (3 million SOLD in one day)

You just keep parroting the same bs while you were already told by others that its a retarded comparison.

But keep doing you bro, on the ignore list you go. Zero actual discussion to be had with you.

 

[analog_future]

what success? its not going to save ubisoft....it sold, like all of the ac titles sell...nothing mindblowing either....honestly, dont see it as a success...maybe another opportunity fo rubisoft to get on track, but nah...

It's the 2nd best launch in the entire franchise.

 

[MMaRsu]

It's the 2nd best launch in the entire franchise.

People are trying SO hard to make it a bad selling woke failure in the eyes of the gullible.

Everyone normal can see its not really a woke piece of shit like Dragon Age.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

woke Ubi shills like to keep rehashing the words to control the narrative that somehow the game is successful, I'm just going to keep reminding them what real success looks like: Monster Hunter Wilds (8 million SOLD in 3 days) and Dragon Ball (3 million SOLD in one day)

These "woke Ubi shills" you keep talking about are not even here my man. But you do you I guess.

 

[Hudo]

People are trying SO hard to make it a bad selling woke failure in the eyes of the gullible.

Everyone normal can see its not really a woke piece of shit like Dragon Age.

I am genuinely surprised that EA still haven't killed off BioWare completely. 3 duds in a row (Andromeda, Anthem, Veilguard). Origin Systems, Bullfrog and Westwood were shut down for far fewer and far less costly "failures".

 

[Topher]

I'm not up on twitter stuff. Is this considered sponsorship? That's incredibly stupid if it is. What is Ubisoft thinking?

edit: I guess he ain't putting a "buy it here" link there for free, is he?

 

[near]

I'm not up on twitter stuff. Is this considered sponsorship? That's incredibly stupid if it is. What is Ubisoft thinking?

edit: I guess he ain't putting a "buy it here" link there for free, is he?

Publishers sponsor Twitch streamers all the time to promote their games. Streamers with high viewership and reach tend to get paid well from sponsorships, and content creators will only speak positively about the game they're promoting in order not to burn any bridges with publishers. Pretty sure they put links to pre-order pages too if they're playing early access versions.

 

[Topher]

Publishers sponsor Twitch streamers all the time to promote their games. Streamers with high viewership and reach tend to get paid well from sponsorships, and content creators will only speak positively about the game they're promoting in order not to burn any bridges with publishers. Pretty sure they put links to pre-order pages too if they're playing early access versions.

Ah....ok. I admit to be incredibly ignorant of a lot of twitter stuff and just about everything regarding twitch. Had no idea Hasan was even on twitch. Last I saw him he was rambling on for young turks. Guess that was a while ago.

 

[STARSBarry]

I'm not up on twitter stuff. Is this considered sponsorship? That's incredibly stupid if it is. What is Ubisoft thinking?

edit: I guess he ain't putting a "buy it here" link there for free, is he?

He will get a percentage of every sale made via that link as well, it's a scummy business practice and it essentially makes the creator a tout, but it works.

 

[Topher]

He will get a percentage of every sale made via that link as well, it's a scummy business practice and it essentially makes the creator a tout, but it works.

Sounds like this is pretty common stuff.

 

[STARSBarry]

Sounds like this is pretty common stuff.

Yep, there is some nuance, some creators will only take sponsorships from products they think are good... how genuine that actually is depends on the creator, Hasan for example you can rate as a"BS he would sell his own mother" type. The best creators are funded exclusively by patreon or the like, who specifically do that to avoid shit like this.

 

[near]

Ah....ok. I admit to be incredibly ignorant of a lot of twitter stuff and just about everything regarding twitch. Had no idea Hasan was even on twitch. Last I saw him he was rambling on for young turks. Guess that was a while ago.

Hasan is quite a huge deal on Twitch and is the largest political commentator on the platform. He is hard left leaning and has had some extreme takes in the past, it doesn't surprise me that Elon's calling him out. I think Asmongold has had a lot of back and forth with him as well. But yeah, a lot of people aren't aware that their are sponsored gamers.

 

[Doom85]

dude, this game successfully managed to insult a whole country - where it actually takes place...

The game is historical fiction, yes Ubisoft fucked up by claiming otherwise initially (which was stupid to claim in a series where the Pope has superpowers or some shit, Medusa is real, Valhalla is an actual location, etc.), but I'm not going to get triggered by that just like I didn't get triggered when Capcom failed to know how Spanish dialects work when they made the original Resident Evil 4.

There have been Japanese anime studios that have made anime where Nobunaga is a girl; where a samurai fights in a breakdance style; a version of World War 1 that was delayed to the 1920's and soldiers fight with magic and the lead is a modern Japanese guy who died and gets reincarnated to said 1920's as a young girl and fights in said war as a ruthless soldier; etc. Where was the demand and outrage for "cultural accuracy" then?

Should we start taking receipts for all the inaccurate or stereotypical depictions in Japanese media of other nations and cultures of any time period? No, because unless something truly discriminating and hateful is being displayed, there's no ill intent, and it's nothing to get worked up over.

And no, the "whole country" of Japan did not get upset by this game. Some angry people online should never be used as a reliable judge of such a massive amount of people no matter what we're talking about. Honestly, if you do truly respect the nation of Japan, you wouldn't generalize them in such a manner.

 

[Spooky Scary Skeleton]

I don't care about any extra baggage this game comes with. At the end of the day, it's just Ubisoft game. As long as it's profit helps the funding of next Splinter Cell game, then it can be the best selling AC game of all time for all I care.

 

[Labadal]

There is no foolishness, and it will never run out.

 

[Hector Hall]

Well success, pretty much the same as last entries

 

[Shadowstar39]

The amount of heat they took, and many other games, together with a broader cultural shift - woke will take time to pass through the system. What's already in the oven it's too late.

It's possible this game may have been 50% higher if not for the BLM infused direction.

This. I know I would of bought this if it had history appropriate characters. First AC game I have not bought. Of course I was kind of burned with Valhalla. Odyessy was last good one, but nothing compares to AC2 trilogy + AC3 and Black flag.

 

[TropicanaTwista]

I have not played AC:S and currently playing Ronin.

From gameplay videos I have seen, Shadow's game play looks like it's in slow motion or under water compared to team Ninja's game.

I have not played a Ubi game in ages, and it's not just for the DEI stuff they have injected in their games. Gameplay has been subpar for a long time in their offerings.

Pretty much this. The last game I enjoyed from Ubi form Immortals fenyx rising, which was a launch game. It's really a shame to see what they've become.

I had the same thought process watching shadows trailers too. Similar how I felt when watching silent hill 2 gameplay trailers. I remember watching SH2 and being like, this looks like a much worse version of RE2 remake but its releasing 5 years later. Same exact situation with AC shadows. GoT just straight up looked more fun to play and it's half a decade older.

 

[JimmyRustler]

That "success" is probably dearly paid for by Ubisoft to all the news outlefts. I mean, damn, the amount of news about this game is staggering.

 

[Throttle]

It's possible this game may have been 50% higher if not for the BLM infused direction.

I have no doubt it have sold a lot more with a japanese (straight) male ninja as the protagonist, all over the world.

 

[Sojiro]

Publishers sponsor Twitch streamers all the time to promote their games. Streamers with high viewership and reach tend to get paid well from sponsorships, and content creators will only speak positively about the game they're promoting in order not to burn any bridges with publishers. Pretty sure they put links to pre-order pages too if they're playing early access versions.

Ubisoft's response to this is pretty fucking funny too . All of these people shit flinging publicly on Twitter is quite the spectacle. Don't get me wrong, there is no doubt in my mind that Hasan gives zero fucks about the game and saw a free paycheck opportunity, hell I don't know if he ever even streams games as he is known as the "political guy" on twitch. So much stupid surrounding a fucking AC game lol.

 

[TGO]

Imagine caring who wins this stupid battle

It's insanity crying about what video game characters look like.

This was stupid comment when all this DEI shit started, now it's just retarded after all the damage it has done.
I understand some people go to extremes, that why I ignore those extreme opinions.
Everyone just wants good games and the pandering to stop.
I ain't bothered by the characters or the options in the game and apparently it isn't woke so that's why I bought it and will be testing it out later.
But no one wants the obvious agenda being pushed down our throats with poor storytelling thrown in to justify it.
And to celebrate it makes me think you don't want games to return to being great like they once where and mistyped Era in the browser before you posted.

 

[onQ123]

This was stupid comment when all this DEI shit started, now it's just retarded after all the damage it has done.
I understand some people go to extremes, that why I ignore those extreme opinions.
Everyone just wants good games and the pandering to stop.
I ain't bothered by the characters or the options in the game and apparently it isn't woke so that's why I bought it and will be testing it out later.
But no one wants the obvious agenda being pushed down our throats with poor storytelling thrown in to justify it.
And to celebrate it makes me think you don't want games to return to being great like they once where and mistyped Era in the browser before you posted.

My mind isn't corrupted with all this mess so for me gaming is just as great as it always been & I don't have a crazy belief that the world & everything in it should revolve around me & only me. Gaming is bigger than it has ever been but because it's not the way you want it to be somehow it's no longer great? Lol

 

[Danjin44]

This culture war nonsense has to stop, at this point both side gone far beyond stupid.

I will say same thing to people who complain that characters are "too sexy".

Dont like it? Dont fucking buy it.....problem solved.

 

[viveks86]

This culture war nonsense has to stop, at this point both side gone far beyond stupid.

Dont like it? Dont fucking buy it.....problem solved.

If this is coming from the nicest person on this forum, we all need to do some serious self-reflecting...

 

[Danjin44]

If this is coming from the nicest person on this forum, we all need to do some serious self-reflecting...

I dont want devs be afraid to make what they want just because backlash of people on internet.

To me that worse than SJW, Woke, DEI or whatever the fuck next word gonna be.

We get the best games when devs are free to make what they want.

 

[viveks86]

I dont want devs be afraid to make what they want just because backlash of people on internet.

To me that worse than SJW, Woke, DEI or whatever the fuck next word gonna be.

We get the best games when devs are free to make what they want.

 

[Fbh]

I mean... attaching woke stuff to super popular pre existing IP has always been the cheat code.

 

[CitizenKratos]

Or will we still have to deal with all the non gameplay related drama for years to come whenever new games are released?

I thought the backlash was Japanese and this didn't sell well there either.

To the larger claim, it's always going to be a case by case basis. There're plenty of recent examples of backlash being successful for various reasons.

 

[TGO]

My mind isn't corrupted with all this mess so for me gaming is just as great as it always been & I don't have a crazy belief that the world & everything in it should revolve around me & only me. Gaming is bigger than it has ever been but because it's not the way you want it to be somehow it's no longer great? Lol

You think the statistics showing people playing older games and watching older TV shows and films is because their mind is corrupt and gaming is the best it's ever been?

Brother gaming was better when you was member on PSU.

Like I said before, my fellow Gaffers has recommended me this games so

We will see
Danjin44
What's worse.
1) Having Gamers bitch on the internet about what you put in your game and refuse to buy your game but being able to rectify it or ignore it.
Or
2) having a organisation come into your studio to dictate what put in your game and continue doing so as sales decline.
Or worse yet
3) Having people that work for you dictate it and having the same end result as 2)

 

[Bernardougf]

I mean... attaching woke stuff to super popular pre existing IP has always been the cheat code.

Disney would hardly disagree... and double down