Ubisoft, one of the prominent gaming companies, is now facing a steady decline due to various amount of controversies against them that have surfaced, especially over the past couple of years, which not only led them to see a massive setback in their revenue and stock price but also in this process they had to cancel various games of them which added various financial losses towards the company.
So what happened for the French-based company, known for producing top-notch video game franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry, is now seeing themselves in this position. Within the last four years, the gaming giants have been accused of several controversies, from sexual allegations to cultural misappropriation to money fraudulence to charging high amounts of money for additional features; however, everything dates back to the summer of 2020 that set this particular stage.
The sexual harassment case of 2020
In June 2020, Liberation, one of the prominent French newspapers, brought this thing into the limelight by taking the testimonials of 20 employees of Ubisoft, where it is shown that harassment against female employees and toxic work culture in this organization is a common thing. Maxime Beland, the co-founder of the company, Tommy Francois, who was the vice president of the editorial and credit service and Chief Creative Officer Serge Hascoet, three of whom were all accused of sexual assault against female employees in the workplace. They were all fired by the company immediately, but one of the questions fans asked in this process was why Ubisoft didn’t react in the first place.
In this process, the company replied with an awful statement that they didn’t know. This statement didn’t resonate well with the gamers, and they started to trend #BoycottUbisoft on Twitter, with various prominent people in the gaming industry also actively beginning to speak against the company, like Stephanie Harvey, a professional gamer and five-time world champion who hails from Canada.
Also, in this process, other subsidiaries of the company were revealed to be notoriously promoting sexual harassment and racial discrimination in the company like their Singapore division. This overall effect damaged the company’s reputation as its share also sank to 9 per cent at that time, and their sales of various games also declined on a colossal level, like Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. However, this was just the start of the company’s downfall, as the following incident would repeatedly cause more significant harm to them.
The NFT controversy
In 2021, Ubisoft announced the Ghost Recon Breakpoint NFT game on YouTube. The video in this process has received very poorly among the audience, with a 96 per cent dislike ratio. As per the reports, the video has 1,000 likes compared to 24,000 dislikes, which showcases that the gaming community is unhappy with their NFT announcement. The backlash led them to make the video go unlisted. Many gamers in this process actively called out the company that instead of focusing on NFT, they should focus more on improving the working conditions or the game’s design.
However, in this process, they have successfully mitigated the NFT controversy and the workplace allegations about them. It was all fine, and the cherry on the top of the news was that Ubisoft was returning with a new Assassin Creed game. However, little Ubisoft knew that their beloved franchise was about to cause them more trouble.
Assassin Creed and how Ubisoft pissed an entire nation
Assassin Creed Shadow, a game based on Feudal Japan as soon as it released was met with a heavy backlash from not only the people of Japan but also from Youtubers like Tim Pool, who called out on the context that they are forced to incorporate the diverse aspects of the game, which nobody wants.
In the game, they made Yasuke, an African-origin samurai, the main protagonist over an actual Japanese one. Yasuke was a real samurai in Feudal Japan, but in the historical background, it is debatable whether he was from Africa. Some fans directly slammed the company, saying that they never made a game with a male East Asian protagonist despite how much they show their love regarding the diverse genre. Some fans even went further and started to say that the company hates East Asian people and accused them of being racist in this term.
In all of this chaos, the Japanese people on blogs and other social media platforms started to accuse Ubisoft of how they have distorted various elements of their culture in this game, and in the process, an online petition was launched by the Japanese people urging Ubisoft to stop the release of the game. More than 90,000 people from Japan itself joined the petition. The controversy also drew the attention of various Japanese politicians like the House of Councillors member Satoshi Hamada, who stated that he had reported this particular incident to the foreign minister of Japan and also demanded the Government of Japan take a strict measure regarding the cultural mismanagement that this game has done.
The anger of Japanese people regarding the game was further seen in the trailer that was uploaded by Ubisoft Japan of the game.
| Metrics | Count |
| Likes | 317 |
| Dislikes | 7,000 |
| Total Engagement | 7,253 |
| Date of Release | 12.09.2024 |
| Days since release | 11 |
Amid that, the company also faced another controversy this year, which provided accusations from the gaming community that they have done fraudulence with them regarding money on the game called The Crew.
The controversy over Crew
The Crew is an online racing game that Ubisoft launched in 2015 where, mainly, the players had to purchase the gamer with their own money for licensing. On April 1 2024, however, The Crew game stopped operating, with the users started to claim that they didn’t get any warning from the company that their license would be delegated for which they had paid, and when they were about to launch the game, the players got the message stating that the access is no longer possible.
In this process, the gaming community pointed out that what they did was illegal in terms of European Law, and many users threatened to sue them. Even though the company offered to refund those who had purchased the game, the refund didn’t apply to most players in this process.
In this controversy, Ubisoft still thought they could come back massively and bring back the classic vintage legacy by taking the assistance of a cult classic space opera franchise known as Star Wars, which is loved by millions. However, when someone falls in trouble, trouble comes in every aspect. This was also not exceptional, as Star Wars was about to create more problems for them.
Star Wars Outlaws is a good concept but failed execution.
The game’s release created a massive buzz among Star Wars fans because it was the first ever open-world Star Wars game. The set was staged; however, suddenly, an enormous problem was being seen in the game as some prerelease players of Star Wars Outlaws reported various problems regarding the game’s progression as they were stuck in certain parts of the game and facing numerous issues with saving. Besides that, another controversy of this game also emerged is that the company is charging more money for having the gamers get various specific features on the game, like unlocking the character of Boba Fett or missions involving Jabba The Hut or gaining special accessories like seasonal passes.
| Edition | Base Price (USD) | Price difference (USD) | Includes Season Pass | Day One Content |
| Standard Edition | $59.99 | No | No | |
| Gold Edition | $99.99 | $40 | Yes | Yes |
| Ultimate Edition | $119.99 | $60 | Yes | Yes |
The above chart shows a huge difference regarding the price for Star Wars Outlaws; fans and critics criticized this as a FOMO tactic of Ubisoft to push players towards spending more.
Besides the hostile reception of the Star Wars Outlaws game, this kind of controversy has also drastically impacted the company’s share.
The share of Ubisoft which keeps failing
Following all sorts of controversies like this, the company’s stock price was inevitable to fall, and it was. However, a massive decline in stock happened after they released Star Wars outlaw games, which the above portion can highlight.
| Date | Event | Share Price (EUR) | % Change |
| August 30, 2024 | Post Star Wars Outlaws launch (10% drop) | €13.34 | -7.1 % from July 2024 |
| September 9, 2024 | Further decline | €10.67 | -10% from August 2024 |
Final thoughts
It can be seen how much bad shape the company has been in the past couple of years; the blame is solely on them because they have failed to tackle various misconducts in their company committed by the people who are on the higher authorities.
In this process, it is also seen that they were not honest with their fans as despite the fans having purchased the games, they have deliberately revoked their licenses without informing them. On the other hand they were providing poor quality service on their games despite charging an additional amount of money. Ubisoft has still got time to fix all these issues otherwise, the way they are declining sooner or later will make them out of business, which will also cause a massive loss for gaming fans.
FAQ
Which was the newspaper that brought the sexual harassment of Ubisoft to light?
In June 2020, Liberation, one of the prominent French newspapers, brought this thing into the limelight by taking the testimonials of 20 employees of the company, where it is shown that harassment against female employees and toxic work culture in this organization is a common thing.
Who are some of the prominent people in the gaming community who have spoken about the sexual harassment case of Ubisoft?
Various prominent people in the gaming industry are also actively beginning to speak against the company, like Stephanie Harvey, a professional gamer and five-time world champion from Canada.
What was the controversy regarding the NFT game?
The backlash led them to make the video go unlisted. Many gamers in this process actively called out the company that instead of focusing on NFT, they should focus more on improving the working conditions or the game’s design.
Why did Assassin’s Creed Shadow face a backlash?
Assassin Creed Shadow, a game based on Feudal Japan as soon as it released was met with a heavy backlash from not only the people of Japan but also from Youtubers like Tim Pool, who called out on the context that they are forced to incorporate the diverse aspects of the game, which nobody wants.
What was the controversy that arose from the game The Crew?
On April 1 2024, however, The Crew game stopped operating, with the users started to claim that they didn’t get any warning from the company that their license would be delegated for which they had paid, and when they were about to launch the game, the players got the message stating that the access is no longer possible.
What issues are being seen with the Star Wars Outlaws game?
A massive problem was being seen in the game as some pre-release players of Star Wars Outlaws reported various problems regarding the game’s progression as they were stuck in certain parts of the game and facing numerous issues with saving. Besides that, another controversy of this game is that the company is charging more money for having the gamers get various specific features on the game.
Why did the stocks of Ubisoft decline massively?
Following all sorts of controversies like this, the company’s stock price was inevitable to fall, and it was. However, a massive decline in stock happened after they released Star Wars outlaw games.
Who is to blame for the downfall of Ubisoft?
It can be seen how much bad shape the company has been in the past couple of years; the blame is solely on them because they have failed to tackle various misconducts on their company committed by the people who are on the higher authorities.
