GYGO Race & Racism: Ubisoft Apologises for… Something

Hi friends, it’s Zainabb here, once again exhausted by the state of the world. Here in the UK, the far right is back on the street doing race riots so I thought, what better time to check in on all things race and racism in the world of gaming? Be safe out there friends, keep organising locally, and if you’re white, show up for Black and brown people in your community and beyond.

Here’s your reminder to support Palestinian people. Resources include The Palestine Academy, the Palestinian Feminist Collective’s amazing action toolkit and my own newsletter, Crips for Palestine. If you’re able, please donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians or Crips for eSims for Gaza.

Ubisoft Apologises for “Elements” of Assassin’s Creed Shadows Promotions

Last month, Ubisoft issued an apology for “some elements” in promotions for the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows that “have caused concern within the Japanese community.” Ubisoft did not elaborate further but the apology came in the wake of racist backlash against the game’s Black protagonist, inspired by real-life historical samurai Yasuke. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has previously criticised “malicious and personal online attacks” directed at the Shadows development team.

A week after this vague apology, the creative director for another upcoming Ubisoft title, Star Wars Outlaws, spoke out against “bad-faith” dialogue. In response to misogynist criticism that Outlaws‘ main character isn’t attractive enough, Julian Gerighty stated, “it makes no sense to me and it’s not worth engaging with.”

I personally could not agree more with Gerighty on this, and recommend reading Alyssa Mercante’s excellent piece for Kotaku on the increased “anti-woke” and “anti-DEI” rhetoric we’re seeing online.

Genshin Impact Community Criticises Hoyoverse for Whitewashing

Genshin Impact developer Hoyoverse has come under fire from fans accusing the company of whitewashing its characters. The criticism started after Hoyoverse released a trailer for a new in-game region inspired by pre-colonial Latin America, West Africa, and Australia—that only featured characters with light skin. Hoyoverse has previously been criticised for relying on stereotypes to build out other regions, in particular its SWANA-inspired area, Sumeru.

Polygon reported that an anonymous English-language voice actor has also spoken out against colourism and misrepresentation in Genshin Impact, stating that they are “grateful for the knowledge and accountability from the fanbase, if disappointed in the continuing patterns of the company.” Several other voice actors have followed suit, including Valeria Rodríguez, who voices Sucrose. Rodríguez said, “If you’re going to use real-world deities, RESPECT them. If you’re basing off of real cultures, RESPECT THAT.”

In other news…

Twitch has reinstated Donald Trump’s account after “permanently” banning it back in 2021, following the riots at the US Capitol. Twitch has justified this decision by stating, “we believe there is value in hearing from Presidential nominees directly.” It’s also been discovered that contributions to Team Kennedy have been made in the name of Twitch CEO, Dan Clancy (he stated on X that his “wife must have made this donation…” Sure, Dan).

A Microsoft team lead sent an email to thousands of other staff that criticised the company after it laid off an entire team focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), a trend that seems to be spreading across many companies in the industry. The email suggested that DEI at Microsoft was “no longer business critical” and that the team had been told it was “eliminated due to ‘changing business needs.'” A spokesperson for the company responded by stating that “D&I commitments [at Microsoft] remain unchanged.” The news comes after Microsoft laid off 1,900 workers in January this year and thousands more in 2023.

In further bleak news, the recent layoffs at Humble Games has left many studios—and console ports of their games—”in limbo.” This includes Indonesian developer Stairway Games, which has expressed concerns about its ability to port its diverse life sim, Coral Island, to Nintendo Switch without the support of Humble Games. Humble Games has stated that “nothing has changed… every project is moving ahead” and that “all [developers’] concerns are currently being addressed,” despite developers continuing to report otherwise.

Capcom released the video of a special bunraku performance to celebrate the launch of action game Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess. The performance serves as a prequel to the game’s narrative and introduces players to the game’s protagonists. You can watch the video below.

This month, Disney Dreamlight Valley will launch a new game season focused on The Princess and the Frog, bringing Tiana and her restaurant to players’ Valleys. The game is also bringing Aladdin‘s Agrabah Palace to its paid A Rift in Time expansion, which will close out that storyline.

The cast of Dragon Age: The Veilguard has now been announced, including Ike Amadi as a Grey Warden, Jee Young Han as a “romantic Veil Jumper,” Jessica Clark as a Tevinter private investigator, alongside Jin Maley and Erika Ishii. I’ve mostly been avoiding plot details so first of all, these character descriptions sound incredible, but secondly, I absolutely love a heavily Black and brown cast! The Veilguard is set to release at some point this year and I, for one, cannot wait.

Okay, back to misery: Saudi Arabia has been confirmed as the host of the first ever Esports Olympic Games next year, to be held in partnership with the Saudi Arabian Olympic & Paralympic Committee. The news comes after Saudi Arabia—a state that oppresses marginalised genders and sexualities and commits countless human rights violations internally and externally—financed this year’s Esports World Cup too. Esports fans, especially of the queer-friendly Apex Legends, have expressed disappointment of the deepening involvement of Saudi Arabia in the industry (while others, I’ll note, are of course responding with anti-Muslim and paternalistic rhetoric, and anti-queer rhetoric—never wade into the replies, friends).

Meanwhile, in Türkiye, the government has banned Roblox “due to content that could lead to the exploitation of children,” although further information was not provided. Roblox Corporation responded by stating, “We respect the laws and regulations in countries where we operate and share local lawmakers’ commitment to children. We look forward to working together to ensure Roblox is back online in Türkiye as soon as possible.” The move is part of increasing government control of internet platforms in Türkiye.

In China, several mobile games have been approved for release, including Final Fantasy XIV Mobile, Marvel Rivals and Dynasty Warriors. Tencent is allegedly publishing some of the new releases, including Final Fantasy XIV, while NetEase is publishing the Marvel titles.

And finally, in weird but delicious news, bubble tea franchise Gong cha has teamed up with Final Fantasy XIV. Until August 28, fans can order off a themed menu, collect cute commemorative keychains, and collect tokens to redeem a “Porxie King mount.” The menu features a Fat Cat Brown Sugar Milk Tea, a Fat Chocobo Mango Frozen Tea and a Cactuar Matcha Milk Tea—so no special flavours, but I, someone who has only ever played Final Fantasy XII, absolutely love the little keychains. Gong cha has stores in the USA, UK, and locations across South East Asia.