summary
- Due to the state of online harassment, Ubisoft has decided to help through the team behind Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
- A new plan is in place to override the effects of online trolls and harass.
- This plan is particularly important because of its shadow connection with political debates.
Online harassment may not seem like an issue for game developers, but its scale has shifted to a point that is becoming increasingly destructive. Online harassment has become a legitimate problem for many teams as some developers point to a particularly cruel fanbase.
Look for more than the recent “controversy” surrounding the shadow of the Assassin’s CreedElon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, shot down the main characters of both games, saying, “Day kills art.”
An additional wave of honest critics and online harassers erupted around this topic as the dual protagonists illuminated online discussions on inclusivity and representation.
In response, the French site BFMTV, translated through the Resetera Forum, An “Initiative from Canada” has been created for the Ubisoft team.
Many people may think of this as an overreaction to harmless online trolls, but Ubisoft is effective in taking this issue seriously.they think it’s stupid to allow their development team to deal with the wave of online harassment without support.
According to the translated source, the exact protection installed is “a team that monitors the network and acts quickly in the event of a targeted attack.” This means scrubing scrub sites like X and Reddit for potential targeted harassment events and shutting them down before they affect developers.
Employees are also advised not to post on social media saying they are working for Ubisoft to avoid harassment.” This is probably the easiest way developers can avoid harassment online.
Additionally, “psychological and legal support promised to targeted employees” encouraged Ubisoft to have a supplementary plan to help people who may be affected.
Given the recent online harassment campaigns and massive unrest over the DEI and AAA work culture, it’s upsetting to see such a large, talented team essentially have to infiltrate for their work, but this protection was largely necessary to protect employees.
The shadow argument of the Assassin’s Creed explained
Dei (diversity, equity, inclusivity) policies are linked to a massive gust of debate, but it is rather difficult to unleash recent events in general, especially when tied to political campaigns and controversial figures such as Elon Musk.
The big battle with the shadows is that its double protagonist is presented externally as an inclusive character. Online harass, supported by this debate, could potentially target developers for this.
As Musk declared, some believe there is a gap between inclusivity and art. External factors can damage a good game. This point is not entirely unfounded as there is a genuine conflict, such as whether the dual protagonist is suitable for the next assassin creed game.
However, large forms of art and culture are often based on political and social ideology. Some of the most memorable game experiences feature great inclusive characters and deep political ratios that directly benefit the story.
But most importantly, no matter what side of Dei’s argument you are on, there is no denying that online targeting is offensive. In fact, developers who are often not involved in decision-making within the company are frequently harassed for choices from directors and producers.
With the rising levels of player and developer abuse, we were happy that companies like Ubisoft were able to take a step forward in front of employees and provide much of the support they need to help those who make our favorite games.
