Earlier today, the Assassin’s Creed Twitter account teased us with “If you can read this I want to be friends…” and the hashtag #AssassinsCreed. The suspense was met with a chaos of disarrayed replies.
Tracking the replies on my timeline, I noticed the ubiquitous Twitter treat of replying with the twitch of a meme. It was delightful to see people go with the flow and explore the three Assassin’s Creed tenets and try to connect the above cryptic phrase with the creed. I remember seeing users Cpt Rusty and Master Shadow Assasin— the same people who started the thread—began spitting the creed back, which shrouded the thread with a clear and motivating energy.
For a while there, the ‘hide in plain sight’ part of the proverb got a little out of control with the accompanying figurative ‘hips’ jokes losing control. User vijn4107 mildly attempted to engage people with “Be so fr right now, Jacob has the best hips in the history of AC, he’s also the best at hiding in plain sight.” On a second look, that comment is pretty priceless. Shortly after, AC Landmarks, in response to vijn4107’s comment, said, “HIPS is so funny though, because you can’t see the hips if you’re hiding in plain sight” with a thinking emoji. That community’s sense of humor truly never disappoints.
There’s yet another trend going wild, and it’s the constant appearances of “SYBAU” in the comment section. It’s followed by yakuza2005 commenting, “@assassinscreed sybau diybt 💔💔💔🥀🥀,” which on face value doesn’t make much sense but the use of the heartbreak and rose emojis definitely signifies it is something sentimental. Then, aeredhell with, “ok but can you read S.Y.B.A.U,” giving off the impression of a code or some kind of inside joke that I am yet to grasp the details of. A new player entering the Assassin’s Creed community will definitely find this kind of community out of the norm, as it is super common with them.
Several users took the friendship invitation quite seriously. ClaudioACSy’s reply, “If you can read this, we’re definitely friends 🤗❤️,” complete with a heart emoji, expressed pure joy. Simultaneously, Yun ♡ issued this statement, “if you can read this then you’re already in the brotherhood babe now grab a hidden blade and don’t look back,” which, in my opinion, sounded like fantastic life advice for everyone.
A few others did not join the fun, instead, they made actual game-related requests. Khaled 🇸🇦, wanting to join the fun said, “an improved version of Assassin’s Creed Unity with support for 60 frames for the new generation with support for the Arabic language,” which honestly, as he said, would be pretty awesome. On a different note, Marcieli very clearly mentioned, “we will definitely start getting to ‘be friends’ if you upload 60fps to each and every AC title on PS5 which still miss such patch,” marking friendship as conditional on performance patches; I respect the negotiation tactics.
David Humphrey’s actions paired with mr.asante’s actions comes with internet mild drama—which was, mr.asante asking, “Why have you forsaken the second tenet?” David responding with telling him to “cry harder.” The choice of words may be disrespectful but the passion is real, very real when it comes to the Brotherhood tenet.
Whether or not aeredhell or Rusty_cpt are in the same country, it seems like local words are connecting them in their different locations. ‘SYBAU’ and ‘S.Y.B.A.U’ are popular phrases within the Assassin’s Creed community and it looks like some people outside of it are trying to figure out what it means. I have yet to understand the stir these two phrases cause, but it clearly is connected.
The official account’s response to Rusty_cpt’s comment made the community engage a bit more. I loved how the spicy interaction between mr.asante and David Humphrey demonstrated that people care a lot about the Brotherhood tenet, while the official account’s classy interaction with Rusty_cpt demonstrated that people’s intentions were pure in trying to spread kindness.
After reading the replies I can certainly confirm that people get along with Ubisoft for multiple reasons. The plethora of interior jokes concerning the franchise, the heartfelt love of patching requests, and everything people want to do with the cryptic nature of the initial tweet, combined together, shows how unreasonably passionate this community is. It is evident that Ubisoft has crafted an incredible world.
Perhaps Ubisoft Clarett’s Community’s Attention without providing an actual clue is, at the end of the day, community engagement fun. Saying “if you can read this I want to be friends” address the secret society vibe the franchise carries while giving and invitation, which makes the fans feels recognized. Judging by the hundreds of replies, gamers are totally in for that friendship offer, and the 60fps patches.
Assassin’s Creed social media team is well known for their engagement, but the tweet has sparked a different kind of engagement from the community. Hip jokes, Brotherhood tenets, patch requests, and friendship offers are not things you come across every day in conjunction with a tweet. Which, like many things in the gaming industry, is unique, the prompt shift from nonsense to serious discussion, and back, is possible to maintain the essence.
If you are reading this, I believe that means you are my friend. Welcome to the Brotherhood and do not forget your hidden blade.
