Ubisoft Apologizes Again For Assassin’s Creed Odyssey DLC Controversy
Ubisoft continues to try to put the chaos back into the Pandora’s box they opened this past week with the release of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s latest DLC. In a complete backpedal of their promise to fully implement player choice into the game, the most recent expansion forced the protagonist into a heterosexual relationship and parenthood. The backlash from the gaming community over the course of the following days was like a tidal wave.
Ubisoft Tries Its Hardest To Recover From A Major Fumble
Naturally the French developer has done everything they can to try and rectify the situation, but for the most part, fans simply aren’t satisfied. In their first statement, a Ubisoft spokesperson made it clear that “There is one episode left in Legacy of the First Blade which will tie your character’s actions together.” While they apologized to “those surprised by the events in this episode,” the damage had already been done.
Now, in a second statement made this time to Kotaku, Odyssey’s creative director Jonathan Dumont attempted to further mend the damage. Obviously now the face of the company’s PR nightmare, he had this to say,
“Alexios/Kassandra realizing their own mortality and the sacrifice Leonidas and Myrrine made before them to keep their legacy alive, felt the desire and duty to preserve their important lineage. Our goal was to let players choose between a utilitarian view of ensuring your bloodline lived on or forming a romantic relationship. We attempted to distinguish between the two but could have done this more carefully as we were walking a narrow line between role-play choices and story, and the clarity and motivation for this decision was poorly executed. ”
“This has been a learning experience for us. Understanding how attached you feel to your Kassandra and your Alexios is humbling and knowing we let you down is not something we take lightly. We’ll work to do better and make sure the element of player choice in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey carries through our DLC content so you can stay true to the character you have embodied throughout.”
This second address feels much more genuine, and although it doesn’t completely remedy the problems the DLC caused, it has been made apparent that their intentions were not malicious. Was it reckless? Absolutely. Did players have every right to be outraged by such a pivotal residence of choice? Yes, they did. However, it can’t be ignored that Dumont’s most recent statement sheds more light on the thought process of Ubisoft as they went about creating Shadow Heritage.
Dumont went on to confirm, “As you continue the adventure in [the] next episode Bloodline, please know that you will not have to engage in a lasting romantic relationship if you do not desire to.” At this point, fans can only hold out hope that the final episode of Legacy of the First Blade is not as polarizing and disappointing as the second.