Ubisoft Contacts the Canadian Security Establishment (CSE) In Pathetically Desperate Attempt to Silence Criticism
Ubisoft, a company already in a whole heap of unrelenting turmoil due to financial struggles, employee dissatisfaction, and an absolutely WRECKED public image, is now apparently working with the Canadian government’s Communications Security Establishment (CSE) to monitor and censor any online discourse surrounding Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
How desperate do they have to be to start going after anyone shit talking their game? Do they really think this approach is going to end well for them? Their latest move here is a blatant attack on free speech, an authoritarian overreach meant to suppress criticism and maintain corporate control over the narrative surrounding their latest title.
Ohhhh, Canada.
Backed into a Corner
Assassin’s Creed Shadows releases on March 20, 2025, and Ubisoft is banking on it as a much-needed success after a string of commercial failures, from games like Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Skull & Bones, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and Star Wars Outlaws. Internally, Ubisoft themselves has admitted to their employees being very anxious, with many (including myself) believing that if Shadows underperforms, the company will be in serious trouble. The kind of trouble that ultimately ENDS a company kind of trouble. CEO Yves Guillemot has been facing pressure from shareholders, and a major Slovak investment fund has even been calling for his removal.
With the insanely high pressure, Ubisoft is now potentially going to be lashing out at content creators and journalists, and looking to knock down anyone who dares to provide honest coverage of their (IMHO) racist DEI-fueled game. Instead of focusing on making a high-quality product that could stand on its own merit, Ubisoft is attempting to police online conversations in an effort to control perception—a beyond obvious and extremely dangerous overreach. Not a precedent in gaming I would want to ever see take hold.
What is the CSE?
The Communications Security Establishment (CSE) is Canada’s national cybersecurity and signals intelligence agency. While their official "mandate" supposedly focuses on protecting Canadian government systems and preventing cyber threats, they've also been deeply involved in equity, diversity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
CSE’s stated goals include building a workforce that reflects Canada’s diversity, identifying and removing structural barriers, and fostering open dialogue on discrimination and racism. Do you see where this is all going, once again?
The agency’s close ties to the government and its expanding role in monitoring online activity raise serious concerns. Ubisoft is leveraging this government-backed organization to actively suppress dissent against Assassin’s Creed Shadows in hopes to block criticism and increase sales as some sort of last-ditch effort to save the failing company.
Ubisoft’s Anti-Criticism Strategy
Ubisoft has implemented an ‘anti-harassment plan’ to ‘protect’ employees from online attacks. In reality, this is just a coordinated effort to monitor and flag negative discussions about Assassin’s Creed Shadows on platforms like Twitter (X), Reddit, and YouTube that they don't approve of.
A special team is reportedly dedicated to tracking these conversations, with Ubisoft’s legal department prepared to take action against individuals they deem "problematic". I for one can vouch for this, as my channel recently received a strike from Ubisoft for daring to discuss a leak of their DEI-injected (and once again delayed) 'Project U', on top of also receiving a C&D from Ubisoft lawyers regarding a situation where a troll had impersonated an actual Ubisoft developer in order to try and embarrass me.
While it's of course understandable for a company to want to protect its employees from legitimate harassment, Ubisoft's clearly overstepping into the realm of censorship. The difference between shielding developers from abuse and actively suppressing critical discourse is gigantic, and Ubisoft’s latest moves here seem far more aimed at silencing any dissent rather than fostering a fair and open dialogue about the game. That, in itself... is extremely telling.
The Bigger Picture: Ubisoft’s Identity Crisis
Ubisoft's no stranger to controversy. From internal scandals involving toxic workplace culture to repeated attempts to push DEI narratives in their games, the company has already alienated a large portion of its audience, and no good will is anywhere to be found. Assassin’s Creed Shadows has already drawn criticism for its historical inaccuracies, particularly with their choice of using Yasuke as a main protagonist, claiming him as a Black "samurai" in feudal Japan, a clear and obvious DEI-related decision that's been met with skepticism by historians and gamers alike.
The game’s development has also been marred by Ubisoft’s struggle to maintain a coherent identity. While previous Assassin’s Creed titles focused on immersive historical storytelling, Ubisoft has increasingly prioritized identity politics (and making Yasuke gay) over any actual historical accuracy, alienating long-time fans of the franchise, regardless of their love of the series.
Censorship Will NOT Save Ubisoft
Rather than taking responsibility for their declining reputation, Ubisoft has chosen the coward’s path: working with a government agency to suppress any dissent. They can't be serious here... This is an obvious desperate attempt to control the narrative rather than addressing the real issues plaguing the company—poor leadership, lackluster game design, and a failure to listen to its fanbase. Heaven forbid anyone be accountable in the DEI age of gaming, though.
By teaming up with CSE to monitor and potentially censor critical voices, Ubisoft's trying to set a dangerous precedent. If they succeed in silencing negative coverage, what’s to stop other major publishers from doing the same? This isn't just about Assassin’s Creed Shadows—and in a weird way - it never has been. It’s about the future of gamers and content creation.
Ubisoft is at a crossroads. They can either take this moment here to come out of the shadows, rebuild trust with their audience, and deliver a game worth playing—or they can continue to sink deeper into authoritarian tactics, silencing any voice that doesn’t align with their corporate interests.
Unfortunately, given their recent actions, it seems they’ve chosen the latter. To me it feels like they have forgotten how to be honest with their customers, and once you lose that trust... It's nearly impossible to get it back.
~Smash
Sources: BFMTV.com, Bandar Hub
Here is my take on the whole situation. This is pure speculation of course. Tencent(China) is a large Chinese corporation. All corporations in China are government owned/controlled. Tencent can make a lot of money by acquiring Ubisoft intellectual property (their back catalog and franchises). China is already attacking Canada by corrupting politicians, interfering with elections, conducting corporate espionage. 15 years ago it was estimated that China was stealing approximately 1 billion dollars worth of information from Canada every single month.
This is a huge deal. Haweii destroyed Nortel this way. Nortel was the king of the networking world before they got into bed with China. China cloned Nortel's equipment and undercut them, destroying a 300 billion dollar corporation in the process.
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I'm interested to see how they're going to . . . "inforce" these lawsuit against people from other countries.
Well THIS is sure to increase game sales, 🙄🤦♀️.
Working with the government? Trump should put a tarriff on this game!