Assassin’s Creed Valhallais thetwelfth major installment and twenty-second overall releasein Ubisoft’s long-runningAssassin’s Creedfranchise. Set in 873 AD, the game follows the story of the Viking invasion of Britain. Gamers get to control Eivor, a Viking raider who finds themselves caught up in the conflict between the Brotherhood of Assassins and the Templar Order that sees them explore the ancient cities of Winchester, London, and York. However, the game seems to have already stumbled into a bit of controversy for one line of dialogue.
Courtney Craven, who founded Can I Play That?, an award-winning games media outlet for disabled gamers, discovered the words within the newestAssassin’s Creedtitle. The game,which was released yesterdayto coincide with the Xbox Series S/X launch, contains a piece of writing that describes Eorforwine’s backstory. It highlighted how Eorforwine was “horribly burned in a childhood accident” and now lives in fear that someone will “see her disfigured face.” This fear is alleviated, however, as she “relieves her fury with bursts of violence.”
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Craven took a screenshot of the in-game writing and shared it with their Twitter followers, noting how, although it wasn’t covered in theirAssassin’s Creed Valhallaimpressions piece, “it’s equally important to address.” They stressed how it is “absolutely unacceptable” to talk about facial differences a person may have in the way Ubisoft has done before calling out video game writers, telling them they “need to do better.”
Craven explained how their girlfriend, who is a burn victim and had spent “many years ashamed of her scars,” was, unfortunately, sitting next to them when the text came up on the screen. Recounting the look on her girlfriend’s face at that moment, Craven shared how they were “embarrassed” that this was the impression the video game industry imprinted upon her girlfriend.
The officialAssassin’s CreedTwitter account caught wind of Craven’s message and thanked them for pointing it out to them. The developer apologized for “unintentionally reinforcing ablism through this language” before promising to remove it in an upcoming update, much in the same wayit is addressing in-game podcastsinWatch Dogs Legion. ManyAssassin’s Creedfans commented on Craven’s initial discovery, with several thanking them for bringing the issue to Ubisoft’s attention and managing to use their platform to discuss the problem. However, other players weren’t so keen on Ubisoft’s decision, leading to heated discussion amongst fans as to whether the developer was making the right call in removing the text in its future update.
Assassin’s Creed Valhallais out now on PC, PS4, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. A PS5 version launches alongside the console on November 12.
