Ubisoft has kicked off a partnership with Attack on Titan series by releasing a new Naoe costume in the Assassin’s Creed Shadows game; however, the controversy over the paid cosmetic item and the recent game-breaking bugs have united the gamers in a serious backlash against Ubisoft. Developers’ first public announcement of the situation, which included a quote from the anime as a selling point, was quickly met with complaints about microtransactions, technical problems, and the loss of the essence of the Assassin’s Creed franchise.
Recently, Ubisoft released a trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, a game that is the collaboration with Attack on Titan. The quote, “This world is cruel, but it’s also very beautiful,” gives the whole thing a lot of depth and kind of an edgy tone. They are showing off this exclusive costume for Naoe, the shinobi hero, the one you picture when you think of the game. You can purchase it from the store in-game. The idea seems good, having it integrate with the narrative between the two giants with such a huge setting. But the answer… oh my god, the response from gamers online is nothing short of a disaster. It is mostly just cruel like in real life, and not at all in a poetic Anime way.
One of the main reasons for the angry responses from gamers was where the first and foremost the outfit’s price. Players were not allowed to keep the costume by doing the collaboration mission and reaching the end. No, it was marked as a separate purchase item in the store. Gamers reacted angrily and pointed it out immediately. One commenter, Kiyoka, said, “And I thought you were going to give it for free, lmao! But it seems my expectations were too high.” Another user, tk_the_kitsune, mentioned that it is a ripped off £16! That is a big amount for a single cosmetic item in a single-player game. This was indeed the voice of many: “hot take: those who played the content should have gotten it for free!” said a user. There is a strong feeling among gamers that after buying the game and maybe even the collector’s edition, being asked to pay for a tie-in costume is nothing but greed. Koyrion clearly stated, “You guys deserve your downfall for all of these microtransactions in SINGLE PLAYER GAMES.”
In terms of the outfit, the issue has barely been mentioned in comparison with the technical problems, especially on Xbox, which are being treated like a meltdown of sorts. The replies section is overflowing with gamers moaning that due to the last updates the game is now totally unplayable for them. John Stoker vented his anger on the keyboard, using capital letters for his whole comment: “GAME WONT PLAY ON XBOX. YESTERDAY IT MADE ME UPDATE 15 GB AND TODAY 13 GB AND NOW THE GAME WONT EVEN PLAY. THIS IS RIDICULOUS!” His was not an isolated case. Lots of Xbox users claimed that they had the similar issue: the game was telling them that they lacked content and they could not access their saved files after just finishing downloading an update. Alice.Exactly blamed “pathetic customer service” and noted that all platforms were “silent on the matter throughout the day.” So here comes Ubisoft with a new paid outfit while a part of the player base can’t even start the game they have purchased. The timing couldn’t have been worse.
Moreover, there is the… creative feedback. A part of the gamers really do not catch the crossover vibe and would prefer it not to be on their timeline. A user with the name smn99221 shouted: “Get this crap off my timeline. Out of all kinds of DLCs you could make in f—ing Japan, you have done something that has nothing to do with Assassins in a game that barely has any AC game elements?” That is still the case with Shadows’ reception—some old fans think it has drifted too far from the series’ roots. Snark_Streams put it very amusingly, “Can we get some Assassin’s Creed in an Assassin’s Creed game please?” And of course, there was again a demand for a Black Flag remake, with soulsennin menacing “Gimme blackflag remake or u will be Ubideath.”
But the players were not only complaining bugs and money. Some were actually into the aesthetic. Ilman Shazhaev praised the “beautiful” lighting and said the outfit was “fit for the world and still feels practical for stealth.” And JTrxpGaming proclaimed, “I am going to be the one positive comment,” with the words, “this was a cool collab and I enjoyed it.” But those comments were buried under the noise. There was even nitpicking on the editing of the trailer.
