GYGO: Ubisoft Again, Carbon Neutral Gaming, and Trans Representation

What’s up everyone? Hanging in there? I haven’t had much time for gaming this week but I have been immensely enjoying Martha Wells’s Murderbot Diaries in my spare time. Now, here’s what has happened since last week.

Ubisoft Removes Black Lives Matter Imagery Following Backlash

Mobile game Tom Clancy: Elite Squad received backlash following its release last week. The game pits players against UMBRA, a terrorist organization that, according to the game’s website, “operates in the shadows, using violent and morally dubious techniques to obtain and deliver valuable intel.” The introductory cutscene showed an UMBRA member raising a fist, a gesture most currently associated with the Black Lives Matter movement. After players and employees criticized Ubisoft for associating terrorists with people protesting real-life racial injustice, the company apologized and said it would change the video. Earlier this year, multiple employees made sexual assault and harassment complaints and accused the company of fostering a toxic work environment.

Microsoft Has Created a Carbon-Neutral Console

Last September, Microsoft pledged to manufacture 825,000 carbon-neutral Xbox consoles, and in July released an ambitious plan to become carbon-negative by 2030. Though an infographic on Microsoft’s website suggested the carbon-neutral consoles would be part of the upcoming Series X, CNET reported that the devices used for the program were Xbox One X consoles. (The graphic has since been updated.) Still, this is an encouraging step toward a more sustainable future.

Dontnod Released Tell Me Why, Which Features a Playable Trans Character

On Thursday, Dontnod Entertainment, the studio behind Life is Strange released Tell Me Why, an episodic game about telepathic twins Tyler and Alyson. Tell Me Why is the first blockbuster game to feature a transgender protagonist.

ICYMI

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is resurrecting Ronald Reagan, though video games thankfully remain apolitical. (This is a joke. Video games, and especially Call of Duty, are deeply political.)

The Wonder Woman 1984 Xbox consoles have some flashy threads.

Cultural phenomenon Blaseball went offline in solidarity with striking NBA players.

After an artist called out First Second for underpaying artists for The Adventure Zone graphic novel illustrations and placing their work under excessive exclusivity clauses, the McElroy family and First Second have apologized and promised to amend contracts.