For gamers who feel disenfranchised by the current trend in game development, where political activism and enforced diversity take precedence in character design, and developers bow to investment giants like BlackRock for financial backing through ESG policies, Ubisoft has particularly alienated its audience.
Despite posting respectable financial results, Ubisoft’s recent actions have led to a notable drop in stock prices, reflecting the growing dissatisfaction among its consumer base.
Ubisoft shares have plummeted 12% in less than a week, even though the company reported outstanding sales figures in its Q1 FY25 earnings report.
The report highlights a 12% year-over-year increase in revenue, totaling €323.5 million ($352.4 million USD), with net bookings growing by 8.3% to €290 million ($315.9 million USD).
Ubisoft’s CEO, Yves Guillemot, proclaimed that the company’s recent success was primarily driven by the release of XDefiant, a free-to-play arena shooter aiming to compete with titles like Call of Duty and Apex Legends. Notably, Apex Legends has seen a significant decline in its player base since XDefiant’s release.
Despite touting the number of players and hours accumulated during a free play period for their “AAAA” game Skull and Bones, Ubisoft barely mentioned it, suggesting that the game has been a financial disappointment.
Europe and North America continue to be Ubisoft’s strongest markets, accounting for 85% of sales, with North America alone contributing 53%. The console market proved most lucrative, representing 50% of first-quarter bookings, followed by PC at 27% and mobile at 10%.
Looking ahead, Ubisoft has high hopes for its upcoming major releases, including Star Wars Outlaws, which has been criticized for being a generic third person Far Cry experience with lackluster “stealth” mechanics, alongside the fact that the game itself features one of the most terrifyingly ugly “female” protagonists in modern gaming, outside of Microsoft’s Fable reboot.
And who could forget Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the game that set the internet on fire upon its announcement for its abhorrent revisionism of Japan’s most iconic and historical era by featuring a real life “historical figure” as a playable character for the first time in franchise history.
Only for Ubisoft to artificially rewrite said history by portraying Yasuke, a Black man who was seemingly abandoned in feudal Japan as a foreign-born samurai warrior.
During an earnings call, Ubisoft’s CEO announced that the company has made an unprecedented effort to promote Star Wars Outlaws, investing more in marketing this game than any other title in Ubisoft’s history.
What we are factoring in is a strong launch for Star Wars Outlaws. That’s the fact that it’s among the most awaited games of the industry this year and reflecting a really strong positive community sentiment, and also the fact that we are coming with the biggest marketing campaign ever so far for a Ubisoft game.
He also emphasized that the company anticipates a strong launch based on the ‘positive community sentiment’ surrounding the project.
However, the general reception on social media has been overwhelmingly negative, likely due to the game’s progressive and ugly female protagonist, whose appearance begs to question whether or not she was originally designed to be male only to be altered by diversity and inclusion efforts with a last minute sex change.
IGN’s 10-minute preview showcase on YouTube has garnered 43,000 dislikes compared to just 11,000 likes. The comments section is filled with criticism, targeting the game’s lackluster overworld gameplay and the so-called “stealth” mechanics, which seem to be copied from Far Cry.
Viewers pointed out the absurdity of taking down enemies with multiple blaster shots, resulting in loud death screams that nearby foes inexplicably ignore, merely expressing mild curiosity.
Coincidentally, during their financial report, Ubisoft portrayed a very positive outlook for one of the most controversial games of 2024, Assassin’s Creed Shadows. They claimed that both players and critics praised the game, and highlighted it alongside Star Wars Outlaws as “the industry’s most anticipated releases of the year.”
Assassin’s Creed Shadows has faced a monumental boycott, nearing 100,000 participants, for what many see as blatantly disrespecting Japanese heritage and culture by enforcing a narrative that blackwashes Japan’s history.
This controversy has been largely ignored by mainstream media outlets and game journalists, who instead focused on alleged racism in Genshin Impact.
Ubisoft aren’t going to admit to investors that their attempt in pushing Yasuke, a Black man as a Samurai in their game to meet ESG checklists and DEI criteria in a game set in 1500s Japan was a colossal mistake nor will they admit that such decisions were made out of malice or to ensure allegiance with Blackrock’s agenda.
Despite this, Ubisoft remains publicly optimistic. However, their confidence seems tempered, as they failed to disclose the number of pre-order copies sold during their earnings call.
There’s a monumental disconnect between Ubisoft’s corporate assertions and the actual community response surrounding Assassin’s Creed Shadows, highlighting that modern game design seems more focused on pleasing activists and pushing global agendas rather than catering to gamers.
This approach appears to be driven by financial rewards for adhering to certain ideological criteria. When asked about sales figures and pre-order numbers for Assassin’s Creed Shadows compared to previous installments, a Ubisoft executive quickly deflected, stating that the company doesn’t disclose pre-order figures.
They insisted that their “two biggest titles,” AC: Shadows and Star Wars Outlaws, are “among the most awaited games of the industry” and that Ubisoft enjoys “very strong positive community sentiment overall,” a claim far removed from reality.
The actual gaming community’s reaction to Assassin’s Creed Shadows centers on the choice of Yasuke as the main protagonist. This decision has sparked ongoing backlash as more people become aware of the dubious historical relevance of Yasuke. The controversy is reflected in the Cancel Assassin’s Creed Shadows petition, which has surpassed 80,000 signatures.
Research has revealed that the story of Yasuke as a samurai is entirely fictionalized, penned by associate professor turned writer Thomas Lockley, who wrote two books on the subject based on falsified Wikipedia entries.
No substantial evidence supports the claim that Yasuke was a samurai warrior. At most, he served as a loyal retainer and possibly a golf caddy to Oda Nobunaga, carrying his master’s sword.
Recent developments have added to the controversy, with author Thomas Lockley, who promoted the fictionalized account of Yasuke, seemingly disappearing from social media. He has deleted his accounts and vanished from the internet in response to the negative backlash from gamers critical of his controversial and misleading portrayal.
There has been a persistent trend in modern media adaptations and productions involving historical figures, where iconic personalities are often portrayed as Black.
This trend, which has been ongoing for decades, appears to be aimed at subtly influencing younger audiences to believe that historical figures like Beethoven, Mozart, Sir Isaac Newton, and various kings and world leaders were Black.
One might wonder if there’s a connection between those producing and financing these adaptations and their motivations to rewrite history by erasing the racial identities of these historical figures. It raises questions about whether there is a deliberate effort to shift historical narratives, potentially driven by certain ideological biases or religious beliefs.
Meanwhile, Thomas Lockley has seemingly vanished from the internet as his mythological interpretation of Yasuke unravels. Despite this, the usual sources continue to repeat the narrative of Yasuke as a bona fide warrior, relying on Lockley’s disputed “history” and endorsements from historians who cite his work, even though no substantial evidence supports these claims.
It turns out that the Wikipedia entries on Yasuke, which have been edited since 2015, were modified by an account named “Tottoritom,” which is actually Thomas Lockley himself.
Lockley used this account to self-cite his unpublished papers on Yasuke’s backstory, incorporating speculative phrases like “possible,” “could conceivably,” “may,” and “which might.” These entries can be reviewed for more details here.
The situation has escalated into a national issue in Japan, as netizens uncover Lockley’s actions. Given that Lockley is an associate professor at Nihon University, his sudden disappearance from social media is viewed as suspiciously timed, coinciding with Japanese citizens’ efforts to discredit his claims.
The West however has found a new advocate for its revisionist narrative of Japan’s history in Yu Hirayama, a Japanese historian who promotes the claim that Yasuke was undoubtedly a real samurai who I personally believe might have even invented the Bushido code before going on to revolutionize Japan.
However, it’s worth noting that some historians may have views that align with their funding sources, and Hirayama’s affiliations are telling. He is a member of Japan’s communist party, which has also sought to report Japanese manga to the United Nations for “obscene” fanservice.
Hirayama made his assertion on Twitter, stating, “There’s a lot of discussion about Yasuke, a Black man who served Oda Nobunaga. Although there are very few historical documents about him, there’s no doubt that he was a ‘samurai’ under Nobunaga. In medieval (warring states) society, if one’s master promoted them to the rank of ‘samurai,’ one could become a samurai, regardless of social status.”
Hirayama then shared his explanation, “I can say this because the historical documents state that ① Nobunaga gave him a ‘stipend,’ ② he was given a house, and ③ he was given a sword.”
He elaborated further, “Being given a ‘stipend’ and serving Nobunaga closely fulfills the important requirements of a ‘contract between master and servant’ and ‘agreement to receive a stipend.’ It is also important that he was allowed to carry a sword, so he was a two-sworded servant and not a servant (servants were not allowed to carry swords). And if he was given a house, there’s no room for doubt.”
Hirayama continued, “He was probably a slave until Nobunaga took over the missionary slave, but due to the above ① to ③, he probably became a ‘samurai’ of his own volition.”
He concluded his assertion by addressing counterarguments, including claims that Yasuke could not be a samurai because his life was spared and he was returned to the Church by a retainer of Akechi Mitsuhide.
Hirayama wrote, “During the Honnoji Incident, Akechi’s side did not kill Yasuke because he was an ‘animal’ or ‘not Japanese.’ Rather, it was likely because Akechi did not recognize Yasuke as a ‘samurai’—possibly due to discriminatory attitudes. At that time, it was common for a master to promote someone of low status to the rank of ‘samurai,’ as exemplified by Hideyoshi.”
As expected, after going viral for promoting a progressive anti-Japanese narrative that resonates with the Western Yasuke narrative, Hirayama faced significant backlash from Japanese netizens. This backlash led him to take a break from Twitter.
It didn’t take long for netizens to discover Yu Hirayama’s connection to Pony Canyon, a Japanese music and entertainment company with an agenda to promote Japanese culture globally.
While this might not seem particularly alarming on its own, it’s worth noting that Pony Canyon is owned by Fuji Media Holdings and receives funding from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc (MUFJ).
Three of the largest investors in MUFJ are BlackRock, Vanguard, and Goldman Sachs, investment firms known for their significant influence (forced behavior) over corporations by imposing strong commitment to ESG ideology.
Additionally, Yu Hirayama has been revealed to be a member of the Japanese Communist Party and does not hold a PhD.
Despite Yu Hirayama’s questionable credibility as a historian making definitive claims about a relatively obscure historical figure, sites like The Gamer quickly embraced his narrative.
They framed his claims about Yasuke, asserting that he was a samurai in everything but name as a win for the anti-woke gaming community, despite Hirayama’s connections to a corporation affiliated with BlackRock and Vanguard, and his membership in the Japanese Communist Party, which undermines traditional Japanese values.
Unfortunately, Hirayama proved to be as unreliable as Thomas Lockley, the disgraced author who has since gone silent on social media to escape deserved criticism after Japanese citizens exposed his lies and agenda.
Ubisoft’s response is no surprise; they’re playing ignorant, avoiding transparency with consumers and investors about pre-order figures for their most controversial game of the year, which only got more heated after Ubisoft embarrassed themselves with an an exhibition for the game at Japan Expo.
Ubisoft were exposed for pushing internal memos emphasizing that DEI initiatives and diversity are central to their company’s mission, “apart of their DNA” so to speak.
Ubisoft previously suggested that consumers should “get used to the idea of not owning their games,” a trend increasingly adopted given the open market performance of titles developed in collaboration with Sweet Baby Inc.
With the controversial portrayal of Yasuke as a samurai in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the franchise’s first playable historical figure, the game is attracting significant attention, though not for the right reasons.
The petition to cancel Assassin’s Creed Shadows, essentially a massive boycott list, has surpassed 94,000 signatures.
Meanwhile, mainstream media outlets are more focused on the issue of Chinese games not featuring Black characters in games designed for Asian markets.
Ubisoft, while promoting its own agenda, is facing significant criticism for its upcoming titles, which many see as exemplifying DEI and ESG principles, incorporating diverse and batshit ugly characters and distorting historical authenticity to push political narratives and win favor with ESG hedge fund investors.
Ubisoft anticipates that Star Wars Outlaws, which is also facing criticism on social media for being bland and unattractive, will boost their sales significantly as the company expects generate around €500 million in sales for the second quarter of the financial year as the game releases on August 30th.
Although Star Wars Outlaws is likely to sell some units due to its association with one of the most commercialized franchises, the game’s poor reception, reflected in its unfavorable like-to-dislike ratio and heavy marketing investment could result in disappointing financial results if it fails to meet expectations which it may likely will.
Hopefully it does because I for one can’t wait to piss on its grave.
