Ubisoft's CEO has addressed the culture wars and attacks Assassin's Creed Shadows faced in the lead-up to its launch, discussing the controversy in a way most companies and their executives would have likely avoided.
At a meeting of video game industry insiders during Paris Games Week (reported by Game File), Guillemot began his talk around the fiasco by "what happens when a legendary franchise reveals one of its most anticipated experiences? Only to become the game everyone loves to hate?"
That's quite a hook, and while it may seem dramatic it does briefly explain what the heck happened with Assassin's Creed Shadows. Guillemot revealed Ubisoft was thrown off by the backlash initially. This then caused the internal delays for the game, and with the extra time Ubisoft polished Shadows in the hopes that it would please Assassin's Creed fans who would then in turn defend it against these attacks.
"We quickly realized that it was a battle, a battle with our fans, to demonstrate that we were, in fact, more of a video game than a message," said Guillemot. Whether Assassin's Creed Shadows won that battle is hard to tell. The game did top sellers' lists when it released, but has apparently been a bit of a disappointment compared to the sales figures of other franchise hits.
Where do you stand on Assassin's Creed Shadows?