Ubisoft is preparing for the invasion of haters in advance, and has already hired psychologists for Assassin’s Creed Shadows developers.
The release of the next Assassin’s Creed will take place very soon, but the company already understands what to expect (and it’s not a standing ovation). Ubisoft has created a special plan to protect employees from harassment on social media, including legal and psychological support. The studio will monitor threats and possible harassment of its employees.
One of the main reasons for the harsh reaction to Assassin’s Creed Shadows will not be the quality of the game, which was the issue, and the main one the hero — Yasuke, a samurai of African descent. Users hated the studio for this right after the game was announced. And now that the release is almost upon us, Ubisoft is preparing for even more harsh comments. Employees are already being told to «spoof» the game’s characters and «go into hiding» themselves.
«We were advised not to post on social media that we work for Ubisoft to avoid harassment», — said one of the employees, writes BFMTV.
In parallel, Ubisoft has engaged the comité social et économique (CSE), an elected employee representative body mandatory for French companies with 11 or more employees. The team will monitor online reactions and respond in the event of targeted attacks.
In addition, Ubisoft is preparing for future trials. If one of the developers becomes a target of persecution, lawyers are ready to file complaints. But despite the pressure, the company does not want to change its approaches to development (and it’s too late). Back in 2024, Assassin’s Creed Shadows creative director Marc-Alexis Coté said:
«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» — Coté said.
Currently, Ubisoft is confident in the game and says that pre-orders are going steadily. Surprisingly, Shadows became the best-selling game even in Japan right after Monster Hunter Wilds and Split Fiction. The Japanese community has put a lot of effort into putting pressure on the studio, and even created a petition to Ubisoft to cancel the game’s development. But it turns out that Japanese players cared less about character design and cultural representation than they had assumed.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is scheduled to debut on March 20 release time will vary slightly depending on the platform and also still Steam Deck will receive support at launch. Full the game will take about 80 hours to complete.
Source: PS Gamer / Destructoid
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