Ubisoft Apologizes For Assassin’s Creed Retrospective Ad That Includes No Women

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is releasing later this year, and the Assassin’s Creed UK Twitter account posted a video looking back at the history of the series’ most iconic weapon, the Hidden Blade, to celebrate. However, fans were quick to note something off about the video–it only featured men.

While the Assassin’s Creed series has predominantly featured male protagonists, there have been several major women across the franchise, several of them playable. Most notable was the absence of Aveline de Grandpré, star of Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, the first playable woman in the Assassin’s Creed series.

The tweet has since been followed up on and a new video has been posted, featuring Aveline and several other women from the series. You can watch it below.

Ubisoft has come under scrutiny after numerous allegations of assault and abuse were made against various employees. The company has been made to publicly reckon with its history of abuse following numerous reports of the company’s “frat house” culture.

“This summer, we learned that certain employees did not uphold our company’s values and that our systems failed to protect the victims of their behavior,” Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said ahead of September’s Ubisoft Forward presentation. “We have taken significant steps to remove or sanction all those who violated our values and code of conduct, and we are working now to improve our systems and processes.”

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, the next game in the series, releases on November 10, 2020 (November 12 for the PS5 version). It will be available on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC.