Amid the controversy surrounding Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft has launched protections to defend staff from harassment.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows has develop into a pivotal recreation for Ubisoft when it comes to the corporate’s future, which is unlucky because it’s additionally essentially the most contentious within the collection’ historical past.
The recreation has been mired in controversy ever because it was first revealed, largely due to its chosen protagonists: the real-life African samurai Yasuke and fictional feminine shinobi Naoe. The backlash even prompted a bizarre apology from Ubisoft, the place they acknowledged how ‘promotional supplies have brought about concern throughout the Japanese group’.
After a number of delays, the sport is lastly set to launch on Thursday, March 20, and it looks as if Ubisoft is anticipating developer Ubisoft Quebec will likely be topic to appreciable abuse from on-line trolls.
According to French information outlet BFMTV, Ubisoft and Canadian authorities have put measures in place to guard the sport’s builders, which incorporates safeguards round social media.
Speaking to the outlet, a Ubisoft worker mentioned (translated through Google): ‘We’re suggested to not publish on social media that we work at Ubisoft to keep away from harassment.’
According to the report, an anti-online harassment plan was additionally introduced to the CSE (Communications Security Establishment Canada) to assist shield Ubisoft Quebec staff across the recreation’s launch.
This allegedly features a ‘staff that screens networks and acts shortly within the occasion of a focused assault’, together with psychological and authorized assist.
GameCentral has reached out to Ubisoft for remark.
Beyond the studio itself, there’s so much using on Assassin’s Creed Shadows for Ubisoft at giant. After a number of 2024 titles fell under gross sales expectations, together with Star Wars Outlaws and XDefiant, the corporate is alleged to be contemplating numerous choices to maintain the corporate afloat, together with a doable buyout with Tencent.
According to Bloomberg, Ubisoft can be taking a look at bringing in traders to create a separate entity to deal with its online game IP, like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry.
The firm is alleged to be contemplating promoting a minority stake within the enterprise and has already contacted potential bidders, together with present shareholder Tencent. However, it’s mentioned these issues are ongoing and no closing choice has but been made.
It’s unclear if Assassin’s Creed Shadows might reverse the corporate’s fortunes at this stage, if it does significantly effectively, however the IP has historically been Ubisoft’s greatest vendor. The highest-earning entry within the collection is Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, which topped $1 billion in income by 2022.
Ubisoft has massive plans for the way forward for Assassin’s Creed, with studies claiming it has over 10 video games due within the subsequent 5 years.
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