Recently, powerhouse video game publisher Ubisoft has received criticism for a lack of diversity among its game protagonists. What’s more, a poor choice of words from Ubisoft creative director Alex Amancio caused Ubisoft to be labeled as sexist. A CVG writer said to Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot, “Most of the characters in blockbuster games today seem to follow the same archetype: ‘angry white man.'” However, earlier this week, Ubisoft provided a full reveal for the protagonist in the upcoming Far Cry 4 game, Ajay Ghale, who is clearly a man of Asian ethnicity. Well, here is Ubisoft with a video game character who is clearly not “generic” and does not fit the “angry white man” archetype that apparently plagues main characters in blockbuster games.
Per Ubisoft, Ajay Ghale is a native of Kyrat, a fictionalized Himalayan region in the game. He was born in Kyrat but raised in the United States by his mother. After his mother’s death, Ghale returns to the nation to spread her ashes. Instead, he becomes embroiled in a brutal civil war involving Kyrat’s tyrannical leader, Pagan Min. Obviously, this game has been in development for a while, so the use of an ethnic character for the game’s lead was not a recent change.
Diversity in character for triple A game titles such as this is something that should be desired. At the same time, if you look at history, Ubisoft has already been providing an ethnically diverse cast of lead characters, not all of whom follow the “angry white man archetype” or are “generic.” The first Assassin’s Creed game featured a Syrian-born protagonist, Altair, born of an Arabic Muslim father. Assassin’s Creed: Liberation featured a female Assassin character of French and African descent. Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag featured the introduction of the black character, Adewale, who took the lead in the Freedom Cry DLC. And finally, there is Ratonhnhaké:ton, the Native American protagonist of Assassin’s Creed III. There are more characters for Ubisoft’s big franchises who do not fit the classification of “angry white male.”
In his interview with Polygon, did Alex Amancio use a poor choice of words when he talked about the difficulties of animating female characters? Possibly. However, fans who truly feel so strongly about it really should put their money where their mouth is and not buy the game. Obviously, the Assassin’s Creed franchise is a big success and moneymaker for Ubisoft; otherwise they would not continue making the games.
At the end of the day, Ubisoft is not really a game publisher that should be attacked for a lack of diverse cast of characters. Generally, the company already features ethnically diverse characters for its blockbuster titles. Far Cry 4 is exemplary of that.
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