EU Politician Muddies Waters On "Stop Killing Games" With Rant On Wokeness

The European Union Parliament considered the Stop Killing Games movement and whether publishers should keep titles available online after players have already bought and played them for years. Slovakian politician Milan Uhrik redirected the debate toward personal grievances, claiming “wokeness” and aggressive monetization are destroying videogames. He argued that players should not be forced into playing characters that do not match preferred roles, citing examples from Assassin’s Creed. Assassin’s Creed Shadows included Yasuke, a historical samurai of African descent, alongside a fictional character, Naoe, and Ubisoft later linked delays to backlash over Yasuke. Ubisoft’s shutdown of The Crew helped spur Stop Killing Games, which challenges publishers’ legal ability to remove sold titles. Video Games Europe opposed proposals, saying they would limit developer choice.

"“Wokeness and aggressive monetization is destroying videogames,” said Uhrik when it was his turn to speak. “One thing that is definitely destroying video games is the crazy, woke ideology and political correctness which is being forced into the games. For example, if we want to play as a samurai, obviously we want to play as a Japanese warrior and not to be forced to play as a Black person warrior or female warrior as it happened recently in Assassin's Creed. Or to play as a queer character, without any other choice. This is an issue, really, for players.”"

"The game in question, Assassin's Creed Shadows, featured Yasuke, a historical figure who was a samurai of African descent and lived in Japan during the late 16th century. Yasuke shared the spotlight in Shadows with a fictional creation, Naoe, both of whom were playable characters. Late last year, Ubisoft acknowledged that the backlash against Yasuke was one of the reasons Shadows was delayed."

"Ubisoft inadvertently led to the creation of the Stop Killing Games movement when it decided to shut down The Crew. In response, YouTube host Ross Scott started Stop Killing Games by challenging the legal standing of publishers' ability to shut down titles that had already been sold to players. In response, the EU lobbying association Video Games Europe responded that Stop Killing Games' proposals to keep older games alive “would curtail developer choice by making”"

Read at GameSpot