While online harassment may seem like a non-issue for game developers, itsscale has shiftedto the point where it’s becoming increasingly disruptive. With some developers pointing out particularlycruel fanbases, online harassment has become a legitimate issue for many teams.
Look no further than the recent “controversy” overAssassin’s Creed Shadows, where the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, shot down both of the game’s protagonistsby saying, “DEI kills art.”
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An additional wave of honest critics and online harassers erupted around this topic as the dual protagonists lit up online discussions about inclusivity and representation.
In response to this, the French siteBFMTV, translated throughresetera forums, reported thatan “Initiative from Canada” has been created for the team atUbisoftworking on Shadows to protect them from waves of potential online harassment.
While many may consider this an overreaction to innocuous online trolls,Ubisoft is validfor taking this problem seriously, as they’d be foolish to allow their development team to deal with waves of online harassment with no support.
According to the translated source, the exact protection installed is “a team that monitors networks and acts quickly in the event of a targeted attack.” This means scrubbing sites like X and Reddit for potential events of targeted harassment and shutting them down before they have time to impact developers.
Employees have also been “advised not to post on social media that we work at Ubisoft to avoid harassment.”This is probably the most straightforward way the developers can avoid harassment online: by simply refusing to engage to begin with.
Additionally, it was promoted that “psychological and legal support is promised to employees who are targeted,” meaning Ubisoft has supplementary plans to help those who may be impacted.
While it’s upsetting to see such a large and talented team have to essentially go undercover for their work, given the recent climate ofonline harassment campaignsand the massive unrest around DEI and AAA work culture, this protection was almost needed to protect employees.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows Debate Explained
While DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusivity) policies have been tied up in a massive flurry of debate, it’s pretty hard to generally unpack the recent events, especially when they’re tied to political campaigns and controversial figures such as Elon Musk.
The big point of contention with Shadows is that its dual protagonists are presented outwardly asinclusive characters.Online harassers, fueled by this debate, may target developers because of this.
As Musk proclaimed, some believe there is a divide between inclusivity and art: external factors may damage a good game. This point isn’t entirely unfounded, as there are genuine disputes, such as whetherdual protagonistsare a good choice for the nextAssassin’s Creed game.
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That said, massive forms of art and culture are often founded on political and social ideologies. Some of the most memorable game experiences feature wonderfulinclusive charactersand deeppolitical tropesthat directly benefit the story.
But most importantly, whichever side of the DEI debate you’re on, you can’t deny that online targeting is sickening.In fact, developers who are often unconnected to any decision-making within companiesare frequently harassedbecause of choices from directors and producers.
With the rising level ofplayer-developer abuse, we were happy to see a company like Ubisoft directly step in front of employees, providing much of the support needed to help those who make our favorite games.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
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