It was just lately revealed that Kassandra was presupposed to be the one lead in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey till an Ubisoft govt intervened and mentioned, “women don’t sell.”
The information comes from a report revealed by Bloomberg, which delves into the misogynistic tradition that has grow to be entrenched in Ubisoft workplaces on a worldwide scale.
Three weeks in the past, Ubisoft suspended executives Tommy Francois and Maxime Beland. The latter introduced his resignation shortly thereafter. Just final week, Ubisoft introduced that three extra execs – Chief Creative Officer Serge Hascoët, Managing Director of Ubisoft’s Canadian studios Yannis Mallat, and Global Head of HR Cécile Cornet. – had been resigning their positions, too.
However, the misogyny of those execs seeped into the corporate’s games, too. According to the Bloomberg report, the one purpose Alexios grew to become a playable choice in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was primarily as a result of Hascoët mentioned, “women don’t sell” after it was prompt that Kassandra be a solo lead.
Among many particulars I realized whereas reporting this piece: the builders of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey wished Kassandra to be the one playable lead, however Ubisoft’s advertising and marketing staff and artistic lead Serge Hascoët would not enable it. Women do not promote, they mentioned. https://t.co/67689QMHbr
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) July 21, 2020
“Among many details I learned while reporting this piece: the developers of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey wanted Kassandra to be the only playable lead, but Ubisoft’s marketing team and creative lead Serge Hascoët wouldn’t allow it,” wrote Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier in a tweet hooked up to the report. “Women don’t sell, they said.”
Ubisoft just lately admitted that it had “fallen short” in relation to office harassment and allegations, however the Bloomberg report corroborates – throughout 40 nameless sources from the corporate – that these practices have been happening for years, and have progressively seeped into the writer’s games.
For instance, earlier than builders had been informed that they wanted a male protagonist in addition to Kassandra, Hascoët deliberately made Jacob Frye the dominant protagonist of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate – regardless of his supposedly joint significance along with his twin sister, Evie – and ensured that Bayek didn’t die in Assassin’s Creed Origins with a purpose to forestall Aya from gaining a extra narratively essential position.
Hascoët has since resigned after investigations had been performed into misconduct allegations made towards him. Beland, one other vp, has additionally resigned, whereas investigations into Francois’ behaviour are ongoing.
