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Ubisoft Exec Talks About Why The Company's Games Don't Want To Take Political Stances

Albatross

Albatross

Member
Nov 11, 2017
197
Budi said:
I'm bit lost why Ubisoft raises this agression from people here. I don't think their games generally are problematic at all, though maybe I'm missing something. Sure the AC Odyssey DLC stuff was definitely a blunder, but atleast they adressed it and tried to fix that a bit.
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They didn't fix shit, all the homophobic garbage is still there.
Though I admit that it would have been pretty difficult to remove, because that ENTIRE PLOT was built around the concept of "biological legacy" and giving up what you are in order to reach it (a concept that, guess what, is really loved by the right).

And lol at "they addressed it". A PR answer filled with lies is not addressing. It's like sayin that THQN "addressed" the 8chan shit.

This entire Odyssey matter is really emblematic of this "both sides" garbage we're talking about in this thread. First they release gay-friendly content, than they release the homophobic content, and I'm pretty sure the cycle will continue.
 
Budi

Budi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,883
Finland
Albatross said:
They didn't fix shit, all the homophobic garbage is still there.
Though I admit that it would have been pretty difficult to remove, because that ENTIRE PLOT was built around the concept of "biological legacy" and giving up what you are in order to reach it (a concept that, guess what, is really loved by the right).

And lol at "they addressed it". A PR answer filled with lies is not addressing. It's like sayin that THQN "addressed" the 8chan shit.

This entire Odyssey matter is really emblematic of this "both sides" garbage we're talking about in this thread. First they release gay-friendly content, than they release the homophobic content, and I'm pretty sure the cycle will continue.
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I don't agree that their response was as weak as THQ, but no sense in arguing about it I guess. And when I said "they tried to fix it a bit" (notice how I used the word try), I mean the patch changing the achievement name and small alterations to the cutscene and dialogue. Yeah the plot point still exists, but they tried to make it be more respectful. It doesn't make the situation right as it still happened and is in the game, but they did more than just a PR response or "sorry if you're offended".
 
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Scherzo

Scherzo

Member
Nov 27, 2017
1,053
Budi said:
I don't agree that their response was as weak as THQ, but no sense in arguing about it I guess. And when I said "they tried to fix it a bit" (notice how I used the word try), I mean the patch changing the achievement name and altering the cutscene and dialogue a bit. Yeah the plot point still exists, but they tried to make it be more respectful. It doesn't make the situation right as it still happened and is in the game, but they did more than just a PR response or "sorry if you're offended".
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I think it just sort of speaks to how ruthlessly mercenary they are though. They go on and on about wanting to respect player choice, integrating it into what sexuality you pursue in AC Odyssesy, and then suddenly the game forces you to be straight because they have some authored content that demands it to be so. I feel this puts the lie to the idea that they can avoid being political. Certainly the people making it are going to prefer one option over another; it isn't possible for people to be truly neutral.

I think there are ways to bring certain political views to the table without necessarily denying options to others, if that is the way you want to go about it, but it's just disingenuous that such politically charged games have nothing to say about the political.
 
Tracygill

Tracygill

Banned
Nov 2, 2017
1,853
The Left
Ubisoft, we have played your games. We have seen your trailers. Stop lying to us. You are not as good at bullshitting as you think you are. You're only making yourself look cynical, insincere and manipulative by trying to have your cake and eat it too.
 
Dohma

Dohma

Member
Oct 27, 2017
49
Albatross said:
They didn't fix shit, all the homophobic garbage is still there.
Though I admit that it would have been pretty difficult to remove, because that ENTIRE PLOT was built around the concept of "biological legacy" and giving up what you are in order to reach it (a concept that, guess what, is really loved by the right).

And lol at "they addressed it". A PR answer filled with lies is not addressing. It's like sayin that THQN "addressed" the 8chan shit.

This entire Odyssey matter is really emblematic of this "both sides" garbage we're talking about in this thread. First they release gay-friendly content, than they release the homophobic content, and I'm pretty sure the cycle will continue.
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What games have they been releasing that's been telling people being gay is bad.

Try to lighten up and don't take everything at face value :P
 
take_marsh

take_marsh

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,281
There's this extremely annoying echo of a certain phrase, "I just like to talk about ideas", whenever I read about Ubisoft trying to be apolitical.
 
Asbsand

Asbsand

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
9,901
Denmark
Funyarinpa said:
You can make a point while doing justice to all viewpoints (which entails acknowledging that some/most/all viewpoints are flawed in certain ways but usually right in some others), but that sort of nuance and backbone seems to be lost on Ubisoft's writing and direction staff.
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Indeed. In fact, a good video game narrative should allow for all those different perspectives, even the ones you don't necessarily like as an individual or even the "evil" sides - well, it depends on the game of course, but whatever that is, Ubisoft wouldn't even be able to do one POV justice that they would choose to write. Their whole narrative development is too often wrapped up in an angsty, edgy fashion that tries way too hard and doesn't justify itself enough. It really is just corporate art as so many other things in the AAA industry. Hard to get hopeful for it imo.
 
DR2K

DR2K

Banned
Oct 31, 2017
1,946
How do you separate political stances from real life situations? Everything that has just about impacted our lives in basic day to day routines is based off political discourse. That road you drove on? Politics. Sales tax? Politics. Garbage truck in the morning. Politics.

It's only the most stupid and bigoted people that want you discuss politics. You can't change what you don't know.
 

Zelas

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,020
However, Francois does acknowledge that this attempted objectivity could lead to players walking away sympathetic to certain negative aspects of the scenarios in Ubisoft games, or enticed by them. If someone were to become infatuated with the idea of joining a cult after playing Far Cry 5, for example, Francois says he'd hate to have that happen. "I seriously hope we never have this impact, and that we don't make someone think a cult is a great place to go," he says.
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The sentiment is tolerable if the subject material in the game never includes any portrayal of the heinous shit that infects this world. But it does and people are buying into those ideologies. I know he's aware of what's happening especially in Europe. He's just spouting carefully crafted PR bullshit.
 

Deleted member 3010

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,974
It's BS, their games are plenty political.

He just says that to deny the reality and looking good to shareholders.
 
boris_feinbrand

boris_feinbrand

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,574
Funyarinpa said:
It fucking sells, so imagine an industry that wants and rewards the artistic equivalent of elevator music
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Of course it sells. Same reason Pop is actually popular. Because it has nothing to say and doesn't require people to think outside their comfort zone.
This is true for every creative field. It's honestly nothing to be ashamed of. Just don't pretend that you try to create anything of cultural value.
 
timedesk

timedesk

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,937
This statement reads as pure cowardice. I have actually been impressed by the writing and representation ins some of Ubisoft's games. Watchdogs 2 had a pretty solid trans character, and had missions that looked at things like racism in the tech industry. Hell, Watchdogs 3 is specifically going to be about a post Brexit UK, and the you have the company as a whole try to pretend this stuff isn't political. It's insane.
 
Fairxchange

Fairxchange

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,382
Spenny said:
Aka we're cowards.
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Twitter blue checks, mainstream news, radio, public all speak out against whatever it is you're looking for affirmation of. You need Ubisoft to make an Assassins Creed about it next? They're cowards because they want to prioritize making actual games over scoring political clout or good will among whatever way you happen to lean?
 
Arion

Arion

Member
Oct 26, 2017
1,807
I get what they are trying to say here and I do agree. It's more interesting when games or any story shows multiple sides of a political idea and then invites the audience to draw their own conclusion. One of the episodes in season 5 of Black mirror does this really well.
The story shows how social media can impact the lives of everyday people. It shows you the prospective of the companies making the apps as well as people being affected by it. In the end it doesn't demonise social media nor does it applaud it directly. But it provides a lot of substance on the matter to get the viewers pondering. The viewer is left to come to their own conclusion on things.

However, I don't think ubisoft has managed to practice what they preach here. watch dogs 3 can prove their point by showing how post-bexit britain will look like. It would be tricky to show all the good and the bad that will come from it while inviting the player to consider the different view points. Will they be able to provide enough substance or will it come off as surface level satire?
 
olag

olag

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
2,106
If thats the case Ubi, Im gonna need you to stop making games which explore the effects of colonisation in Africa and dont you dare touch subjects like the slave trade. I aint interested in hearing why Tom had to get a job whipping farm slaves even though he thinks it might be a tad racist.
 
Spenny

Spenny

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,544
San Diego-ish
Fairxchange said:
Twitter blue checks, mainstream news, radio, public all speak out against whatever it is you're looking for affirmation of. You need Ubisoft to make an Assassins Creed about it next? They're cowards because they want to prioritize making actual games over scoring political clout or good will among whatever way you happen to lean?
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I want them to stop acting apolitical when they clearly aren't. They're games are full of politics but when it comes to the company making a statement they Boogie it up. Hence, I call them cowards.
 
foxuzamaki

foxuzamaki

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,560
The 1st paragraph is so contradictory it replaced the definition for oxymoronn
 
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