The French publisher’s game, due out in a few days, may have been too divisive, because if that’s what Ubisoft has to do, it’s not clear what’s going on there.

In the case of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, some fans were thoroughly outraged, particularly by the presence of Yasuke, the dark-skinned samurai, which added to the discontent over pre-launch bugs and the company’s mixed messages. The game itself looks promising, and Ubisoft says pre-orders are “progressing steadily,” but it’s still an ugly environment for the game’s launch. One employee told France’s BFMTV that they were told to keep their jobs secret to avoid being victims of harassment. The company also worked with the Communications Security Establishment in Canada, the country’s national cryptology agency (the game is being developed by Ubisoft Quebec).

So it’s a Canadian initiative and there’s a team that monitors the networks and acts quickly in case of a targeted attack. We also hear that Ubisoft is providing psychological and legal support to employees targeted because of their association with the game, and that activity on social media platforms is being monitored by a dedicated team supported by lawyers ready to file a complaint if necessary. They mean business.

In 2023, Bungie said that despite a half-million-dollar victory against an abusive “fan” for working at the studio, Destiny 2 developers continue to face harassment, and earlier this year Square Enix launched a new anti-harassment policy to protect its employees and partners from similar abuse. According to the 2023 Gaming Industry GDC Survey, 91% of developers say that player harassment is a problem in the industry; unsurprisingly, women are more likely to experience player harassment than men, as are members of the LGBTQ+ community.

“Our position has always been that team members’ social media channels are their own. Our top priority is the safety of our employees, including online, which is why it is standard practice across Ubisoft to provide guidance on social media navigation, digital safety and support for team members’ well-being. We also provide resources to help prevent and protect against online harassment, which our teams have unfortunately experienced,” Ubisoft said in a statement provided to PCGamer.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be released on March 20 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC, and the review embargo will be lifted today by Ubisoft.

Source: PCGamer, BFMTV