LGBTQ people, women, and all gamers who take their hobby seriously were outraged when Ubisoft took away a vital choice from players in the latest DLC for Assassin’s Creed. They forced players, even those who had been playing their characters as gay or lesbian, to reflect their own sexuality, into a heterosexual relationship. Through a trophy, they called this “Growing Up.”
LGBTQ people, who often struggle with the perception that being LGBTQ is a choice or that it’s something we can grow out of, were outraged. Lesbians, especially, who often face sexual harassment, assault, and even rape from men who claim they can make gay women straight were especially upset.
Even those who have chosen not to have children were offended by Ubisoft’s suggestion that having a child is the only way to “grow up.” Women, especially, had reason to be upset. Their character was forced into pregnancy. In many “civilized” nations, women still need to fight for their basic right to control their own bodies. To face that lack of choice in a video game is absolutely absurd.
This scene may be changed.
Having upset longtime fans of the series, LGBTQ people, women, and child-free people, Ubisoft announced their intentions. The player would not be forced to pursue a romantic partnership with the opposite-sex character and that they’d change the “Growing Up” trophy name. However, this was no comfort to women or LGBTQ people, who still had their character forced into pregnancy and heterosexuality. To these players, it felt as though their character had been violated. Ubisoft might as well have said that the child was a product of rape.
And while that might sound extreme, I’ll leave you with something a man said to me once at a bar, “Well then I’ll rape you straight.”
A Better Apology
Ubisoft has come around. They realized their first apology was hollow, and left out women and LGBTQ people who felt exceptionally attacked by Ubisoft’s decisions. Only a lack of understanding around women’s struggles and an extreme and hopefully unconscious bias against same-sex relationships could explain Ubisoft’s decisions. That’s why they accepted outside help.
GLAAD, an organization for the advancement of LGBTQ people, announced that they worked with Ubisoft to correct the problem. Despite Ubisoft’s earlier statement that they would not change the ending of the second DLC episode, they had a discussion with a representative from GLAAD. The result of that discussion will be a new ending that will show better respect toward women and LGBTQ people.
Warning: Spoilers for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Assassin’s Creed 3 to follow.
Proposed Changes
“After hearing player feedback and discussing within the development team we are making changes to a cutscene and some dialogue in Shadow Heritage to better reflect the nature of the relationship for players selecting a non-romantic storyline. These changes, along with renaming a trophy/achievement, are being made now and will be implemented in an upcoming patch.
We’ve also been carefully looking at the next episode, Bloodline, to ensure the paths that players experience mirror the choices they make in game.”
– A Community Manager at Ubisoft
The Isu (alien) armor available in Assassin’s Creed Origins
Ubisoft hasn’t given any specific details about what changes they intend to make. It seems as though they’ll change a cutscene and some dialog. This could be enough to generalize the situation that lead to the creation of a child. With the alien technology present in Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed series, anything is possible.
However, my guess is they’ll simply generalize how the child came to be. Ubisoft has pushed the idea that your character’s bloodline matters. This, apparently, must be a direct bloodline, not adoption of a niece or nephew after the death of a sibling, or adoption in general. The reason this comes as a surprise is because Ubisoft wrote the need for direct descendants out of Assassin’s Creed in previous Assassin’s Creed games, after the death of their primary protagonist in Assassin’s Creed 3.
Moving Forward
It’s likely that Ubisoft still won’t do enough to right their wrongs. They may have written themselves into a corner. However, it’s wonderful to see Ubisoft taking criticism and applying changes based on that criticism. The company could have taken a hard line stance against LGBTQ people and female gamers, but instead decided to listen to them, learn, and change.
We are pleased that Ubisoft has listened to LGBTQ players and will be making changes to Assassin's Creed. This is an important first step toward mitigating the damage done by the game's latest DLC. https://t.co/2l5CeXI3JV
— GLAAD (@glaad) January 25, 2019
As advocates for equality, this can be all we ever expect of anyone. No one can completely undo the damage of their past. But they can learn from their past bigotry or unconscious biases and change their future. That’s a future worth working towards. While Ubisoft hasn’t specified how they’re moving forward with changes, I’m happy to see they’re making an attempt to be better.
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