Shareholder conferences are often fairly boring affairs, however in video video games, you typically get gamers themselves exhibiting up. They purchase a chunk of the corporate, and as an alternative of complaining on-line like everybody else, they get to ask questions on to the CEO’s face annually. That’s what occurred earlier this month, when one indignant gamer went full “debate me” mode on the pinnacle of Ubisoft.
“To start with, concerning Murderer’s Creed Shadows, there’s been lots of controversy concerning that recreation,” somebody who claimed to be a current investor however longtime participant stated through the Q&A portion of Ubisoft’s July 10 shareholder assembly, in response to a brand new report by Recreation File. “How do you reply? Ubisoft has been accused and criticized for this woke-ist pattern. And this [game] is occurring in sixteenth century medieval Japan and the principle character is an African samurai. That’s a daring alternative by Ubisoft. And within the story, he falls in love, that’s one of many potentialities of the sport, he will get to fall in love with a transgender character.”
Then, they dropped this bomb like they had been a James Bond villain grilling 007. “So, woke or no woke,” they stated. “How do you clarify Ubisoft’s deteriorated fame, which can truly problem the foundations of your group? So, is {that a} present of openness in your half? Or are you going to backtrack or backpedal on that leftist political agenda? Is there room within the leisure world for that type of stance?”
Murderer’s Creed Shadows launched again in March and is at present the third-best-selling recreation of 2025. However it was dogged by no scarcity of manufactured outrage on-line previous to launch as a result of it was the primary recreation within the collection to happen in Japan however included a Black character named Yasuke, an actual historic determine, as certainly one of its two playable protagonists. It additionally encompasses a nonbinary ronin named Ibuki, who Yasuke can romance.
The truth that the sport’s destruction physics carry over to a few of its shrines was used to attempt to drum up controversy on-line as effectively. Elon Musk claimed “DEI kills artwork” in response to the sport’s announcement. Murderer’s Creed Shadows producer Marc-Alexis Côté stated feedback like Musk’s had been fueling hatred. The official Murderer’s Creed X/Twitter account adopted up wth a viral clap-back a yr later, after the Tesla CEO admitted to dishonest in Diablo IV.
Whereas CEO Yves Guillemot has commented on the subject earlier than, this seems to be the primary time the web tradition wars have ever bled over into actual life. The veteran government offered no juicy soundbites in response, however did defend Murderer’s Creed Shadows on the whole phrases, and the inventive selections of its improvement group, as he has finished up to now.
“Clearly, with regard to this explicit recreation, what was our objective?” Guillemot stated. “We wished to showcase characters with heroic journeys. Everyone desires to play a hero’s journey. You shift your circumstances, and also you change into one thing extra, and it’s a really highly effective expectation from video games. This can be a hero quest, and it doesn’t simply apply to Ubisoft or [unintelligible]… That is an precise character. That is somebody who actually existed. And showcasing that character has been extraordinarily profitable. And that’s the reason we determined to inform that story. We wished to inform a special story.”
Recreation File studies that the “woke or not woke” shareholder additionally grilled the CEO on the Cease Killing Video games motion, which was launched in response to Ubisoft delisting The Crew and just lately surged to over 1 million petition signatures within the EU. “Clearly help for all video games can not final perpetually,” Guillemot stated, “however that’s a difficulty that we’re engaged on.” Different shareholders requested concerning the success of Riot Video games’ rival FPS Valorant, Ubisoft’s tanking inventory value, and whether or not it will possibly spend money on extra AA video games. Guillemot pointed to franchises like Anno and Rayman, nevertheless it seems like the corporate will stay targeted on its greatest blockbusters.
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