Ubisoft is one of the most successful companies in gaming, known for open-world classics like Assassin’s Creed, platformers like Rayman, and shooters like the many different Tom Clancy games. However, like most companies that get so large, Ubisoft has grown to be hated within the gaming scene, alongside Electronic Arts (EA) and Activision-Blizzard. While much of their hate is deserved, many journalists recently have been using their platforms to misinform gamers regarding them. I intend to sift through both, what hate is valid and what is not to try and bring truth to light.
Going through their entire history is unneeded, but to give some context to who Ubisoft is, they are a French company focused on game development and publishing. They were started by CEO Yves Guillemot and his brothers in 1986, funnily enough selling CDs, switching gears, and growing to be one of the biggest publishers in the gaming industry. While they’ve made some legendary games as mentioned before, they’ve grown notorious for a lack of creativity as of recent. Most gamers feel that most of their recent games, primarily open-world RPGs such as modern Assassin’s Creed games, are uninspired, unoriginal, and too safe to be fun once you’ve played the other dozen like it.
As well, they are among the companies with corrupt, perverted higher-ups. During 2020, many Ubisoft employees made it known the sheer volume of sexual harassment within the upper ranks of Ubisoft, and that volume was sadly large. Ashraf Ismail, Maxime Béland, Tommy François, and Serge Hascoët, were some of many fired for misconduct after internal investigations. They have taken many new measures to ensure this does not happen again, including a $1 million investment to improve their diversity and inclusivity. Still, that does not change nor erase the struggles all too many went through.
On the complete other end of problems that people have with the company, many criticize them for having gone “woke”. This applies to their recent game Star Wars Outlaws, alongside the recently delayed Assassin’s Creed: Shadows. Everything from Ubisoft’s writers to their characters (Kay Vess, Yasuke) are criticized for promoting political agendas. While I disagree with those statements heavily, their beliefs are important to understanding Ubisoft’s current reputation.
Still, when so many things are wrong with a company, it’s almost guaranteed that people will misinterpret or be manipulated to believe in any additional accusations. The most recent example of this is Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot’s recent investor call, which has been a point of frustration within the gaming community. If you research the issue, you’ll probably find an article from either GamesRadar+ or Tech4Gamers quoting Guillemot on blaming players for Star Wars Outlaws’ low sales. “In today’s challenging market and with gamers expecting extraordinary experiences, delivering solid quality is no longer enough,” is what you’ll find in the headlines, but that’s not nearly the full quote.
This quote, unlike what it may seem at first, is Ubisoft blaming themselves if anything. They realize they can’t keep reusing the standard formula, they need to push the boundaries and are doing it with Assassin’s Creed: Shadows. Even though GamesRadar+ gave the full quote, both their headline and subheading take the first sentence out of context to misrepresent his words to be closer to us expecting too much. Unfortunately, a headline is all most read, especially with social media like Reddit and X (formerly Twitter). While there’s certainly fault on their end for not reading the articles in full, journalists, YouTubers, and others love to take advantage of this for personal gain.
Overall, Ubisoft is a bad company, but this recent situation is not why. They’ve done everything from releasing buggy, unoriginal games to allowing for undeniable evil in their leadership, like most corporations. Also, unless the company plans to make right on their statement regarding Assassin’s Creed Shadows, it doesn’t even seem like they’ll stop the former. Still, major news sources taking quotes out of context and capitalizing on it is wrong. This also serves as a lesson to you, the readers. If it’s this easy to misinform a large population of gamers just by emphasizing certain information, imagine what your major news corporations can do. Imagine what they could do regarding social issues, public safety, politics, global conflicts, and more. Make sure to be responsible, look into issues beyond the headlines, and stay informed.
