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Ubisoft and Riot Games discuss new research project to combat harmful game chats

Ubisoft and Riot Games have announced a new partnership on a research project that aims to help curb harmful player interactions in gaming.

The initiative, dubbed ‘Zero Harm in Comms,’ aims to collect in-game data that can be used to better train AI-based solutions to address toxic game chats. According to a 2021 study by game development platform Unity, 68 percent of players say they’ve experienced some form of toxic behaviour while gaming, which includes, but is not limited to, “sexual harassment, hate speech, threats of violence [and] doxing.”

Ubisoft, the French publisher behind franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Rainbow Six, and the U.S.’ Riot, best known for League of Legends and Valorant, are both members of the Fair Play Alliance, an international coalition of game companies aiming to improve in-game conduct for all players. As part of those efforts, Zero Harm in Comms intends to create a database that can be shared across the industry and implemented by companies into their respective games.

To learn more about Zero Harm in Comms, MobileSyrup sat down with the two guiding forces behind the project: Yves Jacquier, executive director at Ubisoft’s La Forge research division, and Wesley Kerr, head of technology research at Riot Games. The pair explained how the partnership started, how Zero Harm in Comms will work, their efforts to maintain privacy during data collection and more.

Question: How did the partnership between Ubisoft and Riot first come about?

A soldier rappels down in Rainbow Six Siege.

Rainbow Six Siege (Image credit: Ubisoft)

Yves Jacquier: It all started with discussions between Wesley and I. We’ve been working separately on such topics of trying to identify toxic contents in chats, in communications, in general. And basically, we had R&D discussions acknowledging that it’s a very complex problem, and that it’s a problem that we would be way more efficient to tackle together. But there is a lot of difficulties to goal — questions such as, how do you share data between two different companies while obviously preserving the privacy and confidentiality for our players? And being compliant with things such as GDPR [Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation], for example? And then, on top of that, how do you create efficient AI to really understand the intention of chat lines to be able to make a recommendation? So we thought that because it’s a complex problem, and it’s an industry-wide problem, we thought that our two R&D departments should partner into a common R&D project.

Q: Can you explain the research project a bit more? How does it work and how will it assist with AI-based moderation tools?

Jacquier: Let’s take a step back. Here is how the chat moderation interval works. You send some contents, a chat line, and then behind that, you have tools that are able to predict whether it’s natural, it’s positive, or it’s harmful content. The problem with the technologies that you can find from the shelf is that, most of the time, it’s based on dictionaries. So you have a long list of profanities that you don’t want to see in a chat. But the problem is that it’s very easy for players to bypass that. You can be very creative at spelling thousands of different ways of certain profanities. And on top of that, you can have new words, new slang, that come out of the communities.

So the idea here is twofold. First, try to find a way to gather enough examples of chats with labelled data. So being able to say that ‘this line is considered neutral,’ ‘that one is considered racist,’ for example, and with these data sets, be able to use that to train an AI with all those examples. So that when there is new content, the AI can make a prediction that this new content is either classified as neutral, racist, and so forth. So that’s really the idea.

Then the question is, ‘how will it have an impact on the player?’ This is way too early to tell, in reality. Because first, we need to make sure that we’re able to create these datasets, which is already very complex. If you want to do something [with] data, which is on the one hand valuable, while preserving privacy and confidentiality… And then it’s an extremely complex problem to try to get the general meaning of a sentence to make a prediction. So you have both a notion of reliability, which means what’s the percentage of harmful content you’re able to detect on the one hand — we want that to be very high. But by the same token, you want to have as few false positives that you that can have. You don’t want to tag an acceptable line as being a profanity, for example. So, before we are able to have clear ideas on that, it’s difficult to know exactly how it gonna directly work into our pipelines.

Q: What does the collaboration look like between Ubisoft and Riot? What’s the back-and-forth look like? Are you working with any external consultants to help bring the project together?

League of Legends

League of Legends (Image credit: Riot Games)

Wesley Kerr: So in this case, we’re starting just collaboration between the Ubisoft and [Riot]. There are at least two phases to the project — we’re in the first phase where we’re trying to identify what data we can share, how we can share it safely to preserve the privacy of our players, and then sort of work towards gathering those datasets that we can share between us and build that central dataset. So that process involves deciding how we want to label the datasets. And then we’re sort of following the framework provided by the Fair Play Alliance to discuss how we we label disruptive behaviours in comms. And then we take our labeled data, we scrub it of any PII [personal identifiable information] to make sure that we are compliant with the most stringent GDPR, etc, those legal risks, and then we take that label data, we put it into a shared place and then we move on to the next phase where we actually start building the models that [Jacquier] mentioned. And then once we start building the models, we see how well we can do. That will probably provide additional signals for what data we need to go gather, collect and iterate there to improve the models until we reach sort of the end of the project, which we scheduled to be around July, where we can talk more broadly about the results of what we’re able to achieve during this shared project.

Jacquier: I would simply add on that: let’s keep in mind that it’s R&D projects, so we take it like that. And we found that we have similar mindsets, in terms of our two teams, which helps a lot when you try to tackle this kind of issue. Which is why we’re not involving consultants — we’re trying to put the best people that we have in both our R&D teams to try to pave the way and create the first learnings that we’ll be able to share next July.

Q: You both touched on the idea of privacy, which is an important subject. Of course, this is still early phases and it’s an R&D project so things are in flux, but what steps will you be taking to ensure that players privacy is being maintained?

Kerr: We’re working to make sure that the only data that we share has all personal identifying information removed. And so we’re using different tools, internally built and off the shelf, to detect those sorts of things and remove them from our datasets. We are also only collecting the bare minimum that we need in order to make progress on that problem, which is sort of why I highlighted that iterative approach. So we’re starting with as little data that we can share as possible. And then we’ll add more if we think it’s needed to improve the models. We’re not just sharing everything carte blanche. And then we will only keep it for as long as necessary and protected each as if it were our own so to ensure that the privacy is there.

Jacquier: I think that covers anything. Also, we’re not specialists of GDPR, right? We’re data scientists, researchers, so we got support from the people who helped us to ensure our compliance as well in what we can do and what we can’t do. So we want to make sure that if we want to ensure player safety, it starts there. It starts by making sure that at the very inception of the project, we do not try to reinvent the wheel. But we try, conversely, to make sure that we are conservative in terms of data information about the player that we have to share, just like [Kerr] mentioned; we want to be to have the the lowest footprint as possible, while making sure we have a very efficient AI at the end of the project.

Q: A key reason you’re doing this it to crack down on toxicity in games, which unfortunately happens a lot. Some players just sort of accept that it’s something that happens, but obviously, we can still do more to try to fix that. As game makers, why is it important for you both to do something like Zero Harm in Comms?

Fair Play Alliance gaming toxicity

Data from the analytics firm Newzoo, cited by the Fair Play Alliance, that outlines the effects of harassment in games.

Jacquier: I think both Riot and Ubisoft are trying to create the best experience for players. So obviously, there are things that we do not control at all, which is what happens on public forums, for examples, external forums. There’s a thing that we somewhat control, which is the gameplay and the metagame, and whatever happens inside the game itself. And then there is what we want to improve, which is the flow of communication between players, and making sure that we have to acknowledge some players might not behave the way we want them to behave. There’s not much we can do directly on that, except, because we have zero tolerance on that, to try to make sure that we are first able to detect such harmful content, and then be able to create consequences, or to send a clear signal and educate all players in that. But it has to be fun for everybody and it cannot be fun if it’s not safe.

Kerr: I think the only thing we would add is we do aspire to be an industry leader in providing players with safe gaming environments in both client and game experience. We’ve taken lots of different approaches to this. It’s not just this one area. We’ve looked at names, we’ve looked at intentional feeding [when a player purposely dies to help the other team] and leaving…  We’ve looked at lots of different ways to try to improve that player experience. This is one more push at that and I think internally, we’ve also built out a dedicated player dynamics discipline that’s looking at the punishment side, as well as the positive side of play. So how do we reward positive play and punish negative disruptive behaviour? And so all of that goes into sort of why why this investment is being made up.

Q: As you said, this is an iterative process — the first step of an early research project. Once you share the findings next July, what are you hoping to achieve in the next step as you open this up to industry partners?

Jacquier: It will depend on the results in terms of blueprints first. If we are able to create these blueprints, then we can start working together in terms of AI, and then it will be easier to imagine what the next steps are. So it’s really what we’re focusing on right now. But because we acknowledge that it’s a complex problem — so complex that most of the time it’s difficult, industry-wide, to go beyond recommendations, to go beyond trying to share good intent on that — if you want to be practical, we need to provide with some sort of practical blueprint. It has to be easy to share data. It has to be safe to share data. And then we are confident that we have find a decent blueprint that assures both sides that it’s easy and it’s totally safe in terms of privacy and confidentiality, then, and only then, we will be able to add new new people to to help in this endeavour. So whatever we’ve learned, we will share that in July. And based on what we’ve learned, we’ll be able to decide on the next steps.

Q: Zero Harm in Comms is trying to handle people in the midst of communication. What sorts of other steps do you think should be taken by the industry at large, not just Ubisoft and Riot, to improve behaviour from gamers before they even start playing? Because Zero Harm in Comms aims to react to that, which is a good step, but what can be done on a larger scale to reduce those sorts of toxic mentalities?

Jacquier: I cannot speak for other companies. All I can say is that for Ubisoft and obviously Riot as well, it’s a very important topic. We’re definitely not claiming that we have the perfect solution to solving this problem. What we’re trying to do is, based on the type of games that we have, the different kinds of communities and games that we are operating, we’re trying to find a common practical solution to solve one key aspect. But in reality, once again, it will be one tool in our toolbox, and the toolbox at Ubisoft is different from the toolbox at Riot. However, the intention of Ubisoft seems to be extremely aligned with Riot’s intention to have zero tolerance on that. So the recipe might be different, but as an industry and even beyond the gaming industry, we need to do something to make sure that we keep the online space safe for anyone.

Kerr: The only thing I’d add to that is our ability to work with partners in and out of industry to share the knowledge and grow our solutions to the complex problems that [Jacquier] has alluded to is going to not only impact our players, but everyone online, because people can take those recipes of what we’ve learned and bring them to their own players in their own communities.

This interview has been edited for language and clarity.

Image credit: Ubisoft/Riot

It should be noted that both companies have been accused of fostering toxic work cultures. At Ubisoft, there were numerous reports of misconduct, especially towards women, that started coming out in 2020. Company CEO Yves Guillemot apologized and promised change, which so far has included terminating a number of accused employees, hosting awareness workshops and appointing a VP of diversity and inclusion. However, employee advocacy group A Better Ubisoft said in September that progress has been “painfully slow” and a number of the alleged abusers remain at the company. 

Riot, meanwhile, will pay $100 million to more than 1,000 women as part of a 2018 gender discrimination lawsuit. The lawsuit came about following an investigative piece by Kotaku in which many women accused male employees of grooming, sending explicit images and senior staff sharing a list of which women they wanted to sleep with, among other transgressions. In August, several employees told The Washington Post that significant cultural improvements have been made, although some criticism was levelled at mixed messaging regarding social media policies and diversity efforts.  

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Gaming industry explains how accessibility can improve games for everyone

On October 15th, #a11yTO Gaming made its grand return to Toronto.

For attendees, the conference was a chance to reconvene after a long time away during COVID. More importantly, though, it was an opportunity for learning.

Taking place at Microsoft’s recently opened fancy Toronto headquarters, #a11yTO Gaming was a celebration of accessibility in gaming, bringing together people from across the industry to help make games more inclusive to all. The event was hosted by Steve Saylor, renowned Canadian accessibility consultant and content creator who’s contributed to such big games as The Last of Us Part IIMarvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla.

After speaking with Saylor last year, I’ve developed a far greater appreciation for the importance of accessibility, so I was eager to learn more at #a11yTO Gaming. With a slew of accessibility experts from Ubisoft, Eidos Montreal and more in attendance, there was so much to take in. Here are some of my big takeaways.

First, some numbers

Before I get into the actual conference, though, you should have some context. According to Microsoft, there are 400 million gamers around the world have some form of disability. That right there dispels any notion that accessibility is some sort of niche. (Not to mention the fact that, as pointed out at #a11yTO by accessibility advocate David Dame, “we will all be disabled one day, some of us just beat you to it.”) These communities face all sorts of barriers, such as a lack of colour contrast options the visually impaired, overly complex button inputs for those with motor limitations or insufficient closed captioning for the deaf or hard of hearing.

But while awareness of accessibility has been increasing through the aforementioned games and events like #a11yTO and Xbox’s recent Accessibility Showcase, there’s still a lot of work to be done. For example, in a 2022 Game Developers Conference survey, only 39 percent of respondents said they had implemented accessibility measures into their games. One developer even noted that “there is still a lot of pushback in implementing accessibility features.” While this person was referring to their own team, this could also apply to gamers at large, many of whom lack empathy and even try to gate-keep players who seek accessibility options.

Clearly, then, there are many areas of improvement, and #a11yTO Gaming showcase a variety of tips and initiatives to help with just that.

What even is accessibility?

Ubisoft's Aderyn Thompson gives a talk at the #a11yTO Gaming conference on October 15th.

Aderyn Thompson giving a talk on accessibility at #a11yTO Gaming.

Many people might think of basic things like subtitles or customizable controls as accessibility, but it goes a lot deeper than that.

During a talk at #a11yTO, Aderyn Thompson, Ubisoft’s accessibility design lead, took the time to properly define accessibility. For Thompson, who’s non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, accessibility refers to “a player’s access to the gaming experience that’s either improved, or impeded, by the decisions made.”

However, they noted that many developers fall into the trap of using checklists to see measure their games’ accessibility, pointing out how the commonly used Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are convoluted with “guidelines for your guidelines,” to which the audience chuckled in agreement.

Thompson notes that accessibility isn’t simply a set of features, but rather, something that needs to be baked into the core design.”There are no such things as features for blind or deaf or cognitive or motion accessibility. We could centre specific players in how we brainstorm solutions, but then we expand our view,” they explained. “This way, we can avoid neglecting overlaps conflicting barriers, and, in the end, we make a more universal and less likely stigmatizing design.”

Jin Sakai stares at the large forests on Tsushima island in Ghost of Tsushima.

Many players embraced Ghost of Tsushima’s hands-off approach to exploration, but Ubisoft’s Aderyn Thompson says there are a few ways it could have been more inclusive. Image credit: PlayStation

To illustrate this, Thompson outlined how two beloved PlayStation games were inaccessible in ways many players likely might not have considered. First, they brought up how Ghost of Tsushima had well-received elements like the ‘Guiding Wind’ or wild foxes to help steer players towards points of interest in a more natural, UI-free way. While Thompson praised the creativity behind all of this, they also noted how they “rely on the sensory processes of seeing, listening and thinking,” which could present barriers for disabled players. “Imagine how much the universal player experience could be improved for everybody,” Thompson said, by including features like haptics and visual information for audio cues. Indeed, the eventual PS5 Director’s Cut did add some of this and received praise from both gaming accessibility site Can I Play That? and general players for the enhanced immersion.

Where Ghost of Tsushima‘s minimalist approach was perhaps too limiting for some, Thompson observes that another PlayStation game, Horizon Forbidden West, could be too much for players. In this case, Thompson actually consulted on the Horizon sequel, so there’s an added layer of self-reflection here. They explain that they saw several streamers resort to using protagonist Aloy’s spear for basic melee attacks, despite the fact that this sort of play is “ineffective” compared to the “mind-blowing player agency” afforded by the combat. The reason for this, Thompson speculates, is that the “intensity” of fights — which require you switch between many different weapons on the fly while jumping, dodging and scanning enemies with Aloy’s Focus for weaknesses — may have been overbearing.

In Horizon Forbidden West, Aloy uses technology to scan a robot enemy for its weaknesses.

The Focus mechanic in Horizon Forbidden West. (Image credit: PlayStation)

As a result, players might have found mashing the melee button to be simpler than the more intensive archery. “If we broaden our understanding of cognitive load and motor capabilities, we could have addressed this,” Thompson said. They noted that the Focus already has some strong accessibility aspects, like clear highlighting for “precision and visibility,” but focusing on “fundamentals like interface, slice and contrast and player’s reaction capabilities” could have benefited more people, disabled or otherwise.

Thinking outside the box

We’ve mentioned games with extensive lists of accessibility features, like The Last of Us or Guardians of the Galaxy. But #a11yTO also provided some examples of games that, like Thompson mentioned, take accessibility one step further.

They specifically cited Hades‘ God Mode, a variation on a difficulty mode that makes you take less damage over time — something that can benefit anyone who’s struggling with the game. Praise was also given to games that offer unique ways of conveying messages to players, like Deathloop‘s floating text (narratively justified as representations of protagonist Colt’s inner thoughts) or the helpful notes that players can leave each other in From Software titles like Bloodborne.

A woman plays Far Cry 6 with assistive audio features.

One of Far Cry 6’s accessibility features provides captions so players can follow on-screen prompts to find out where an enemy’s voice is coming from.

In his own panel, Ubisoft Toronto game designer Douglas Gregory explained how simply offering players more versatility can be good accessibility design. He gave an example of a Far Cry 6 tester who had visual impairments and wanted to avoid a heated firefight. As a result, his strategy was to pick up a sniper rifle and pick off enemies from afar at his own pace. However, he also equipped a widespread shotgun so he could run up close and shoot point blank without having to carefully aim.

Gregory noted that some developers’ first reaction might be that this is a sort of exploit that “breaks” the game and, therefore, should be fixed. But he realized the accessibility value in having this as a viable tactic on top of the player just having a good time with it. “How can we make this strategy as fun, varied and interesting as any other part of our gameplay?” he says of the ethos behind its inclusion.

Other examples he brought up of accessibility integrated into the gameplay include the level slider in The World Ends With You (“tune your experience to what’s right for you in the moment”) and even co-operative play (“you can accomplish things that would have been overwhelming all alone”).

Falling Squirrel's Dave Evans hosts a panel about The Vale: Shadow of the Crown at #a11yTO Gaming in Toronto.

Dave Evans giving a panel on The Vale: Shadow of the Crown.

Dave Evans, founder and creative director at St. Catharines, Ontario-based indie developer Falling Squirrel, did something even more unique: he made a game that can be played entirely without sight. Enter The Vale: Shadow of the Crown, a action-adventure game about a blind Medieval warrior that leverages 3D audio and haptic controller feedback for its narrative and gameplay. Players have to listen to audio cues like enemy sounds or narration to progress.

Evans, a veteran of the gaming, film and TV industries, said during a panel that The Vale came about from a desire to find other ways to tackle narrative besides cutscenes.

“The one thing that drove me nuts about working on [cinematics] is how siloed the development of the narrative in a cinema was from the actual gameplay,” he said. The goal was to not have players “sitting idly by watching [cinematics] to get that exposition.” Cognizant of budget constraints as an indie developer, though, he soon came up with the idea of creating a game that didn’t use visuals. This would help save money and, he quickly realized, open it up to disabled players. From there, he teamed up with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and members of the blind community for support.

On top of adding accessibility, Evans said making The Vale audio-only provided sighted players with novel experiences he hadn’t considered.

The Vale: Shadow of the Crown poster (a knight looks out into a canyon)

The Vale: Shadow of the Crown. (Image credit: Falling Squirrel)

“A lot of people were playing away from the screen. They’re just sitting on the couch, closing their eyes, lying down and playing the game. I don’t play too many games that way. And I realized, ‘wow, what a great way to play a game,” he said. “And you know, late at night, you’re wanting to get away from screens, you don’t want eyestrain. So people who are sighted now finding that this novel experience has other benefits as well.”

Evans admitted that The Vale is not perfect; some members of the community were “split” on the “blind swordsman trope,” although he worked to ensure the character “was not defined by that disability.” He also said next steps for a game like The Vale would include offering a dialogue skip and improving options for the hearing impaired and non-English speakers.

Still, The Vale is an impressive and original game, especially from a small indie studio, and it highlights how thinking outside of the box for game concepts can also lead to accessibility. In this way, blind and visually impaired users get a game that is easily playable, while sighted people have an experience that is quite different from anything else they’ll have come across. In end, Evans said that “accessibility-based design did not compromise the game and lead to better experiences for all.”

Increasing awareness within the industry

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy running on a PS5 console.Rodrigo Sanchez, senior accessibility specialist at Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy developer Eidos Montreal, told me about one novel way his team is promoting inclusivity in games.

He says each new employee at the studio is asked about what they know about accessibility and how they think it may relate to their role. “Some people are like ‘this is what I do but I don’t know how it intertwines,’ so we meet with them and show them how it can intersect with their role,” explains Sanchez.

The idea is to provide broader education on accessibility and show them that it doesn’t just apply to specific areas. “It really gives them a great notion of ‘even outside of my day-to-day life, there’s accessibility around me, so how do I interact with that?’” He says Douglas Gregory heard of this whole on-boarding process and wanted to learn more to try to share it with other teams.

Star-Lord holding his signature two guns in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

In Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Star-Lord’s visor offers high contrast options for colourblind players. (Image credit: Eidos Montreal)

Sanchez also echoes what Thompson said about guidelines not being enough.

“You can’t just have a checklist — it’s very difficult. That’s something we took into consideration,” he said. “Guidelines might be very broad and may not pertain to your specific role, so we’re going through it and customizing for your specific role.”

Beyond that, Eidos Montreal holds monthly accessibility meetings to champion the work that’s been done, outline what more can be done, provide feedback, and more. And even though Eidos Montreal is now owned by Embracer Group, Sanchez says the team will continue to collaborate with studios at former parent company Square Enix on accessibility initiatives for the time being.

Going beyond the games themselves

Xbox Adaptive Controller with 3D printed accessories

Makers Making Change produced 3D-printed switches that could be connected to the Xbox Adaptive Controller for those with limited mobility.

While this speaks to what developers are doing in their projects, #a11yTO Gaming also demonstrated some other accessibility initiatives.

Throughout the event, Microsoft’s Xbox Adaptive Controller was on display, a unified hub that works with a range of devices to help those with limited mobility.

Makers Making Change, a gaming division of the Canadian accessibility technology non-profit Neil Squire Society, was also in attendance. A representative, junior mechanical engineer Tyler Fentie, was on hand to present some of the group’s work. Part of that includes providing a wide variety resources on assistive technologies for new gamers and clinicians/secondary users, as well as fundraising for initiatives like giving kids accessible toys for the holidays.

Makers Making Change table at the #a11yTO Gaming conference with various 3D-printed accessories.

Makers Making Change has all sorts of DIY accessories that can be used to help making everyday gaming controllers more accessible.

According to Makers Making Change, switches and switch-accessible toys can be expensive, easily exceeding $100 each. But one especially neat thing that the organization does is help reduce these costs by taking existing devices, like battery-operated toys, and reassembling them switch jacks at a significantly lower cost — sometimes $5 or less.

Further, Makers Making Change has an open source collection of assistive technology solutions that you can use yourself or even have one of the organization’s volunteer makers build for you. Some of these DIY kits were on display at the conference, connected to Xbox Adaptive Controller for use in games like Ubisoft’s Brawlhalla.

Other great accessibility in gaming initiatives include Can I Play That?, the AbleGamers charity and the DAGER System. Eidos Montreal and Naughty Dog also gave us a significant amount of insight into accessibility in their games earlier this year.

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Mobile Syrup

Everything you need to know about Google Stadia refunds ahead of its death

In case you haven’t heard, the Google Stadia plug is being pulled on January 18th, 2023.

As part of its official announcement, Google reassured those who invested in the cloud gaming ecosystem that refunds will be given. As we steadily approach the month of January, we’ve compiled all the info you need to request a refund from the company.

It’s no easy pill to swallow knowing a platform you’ve invested money and time into is getting the axe. Google is thankfully issuing refunds for Stadia hardware purchases, software and DLC. However, there are eligibility guidelines to follow.

Google has confirmed that purchases on all hardware and software products are eligible for refunds. However, the major caveat is that the company is only issuing refunds for purchases made via the Google Play Store and Stadia store. Therefore, the following products are eligible for refunds:

  • Google Stadia controller (est. $89 CAD)
  • Founders Edition (est. $169 CAD)
  • Premiere Edition (est. $169 CAD)
  • Games and DLC purchases (Prices vary)

Understandably, Google is not refunding Stadia Pro subscriptions. In Canada, premium-level subscription cost $11.99 per month. However, if you’re a current subscriber, Google is not charging for access to the service between now and January 18th, 2023.

It’s also worth noting that returns of Stadia hardware aren’t required for a refund. That means Stadia players can keep their controllers and Chromecast Ultra. Players are hoping that support for the controller may expand following the termination of Stadia. With that in mind, all purchases can be tracked via the ‘Order History’ tab on the Google website. Likewise, with software purchases, there is a tab on the Stadia website that breaks it all down.

The Stadia store is currently closing. Players can no longer purchase new games to play. Google also confirms it is cancelling preorders for upcoming Stadia games. Stadia players will not be charged for the full price of the game. Once again, any dollar amount that has gone towards preorders will be refunded.

With all this said, Google hasn’t outlined the refund process in full. We’re still very early on in the process of Google shuttering Stadia, which was not long for this world. However, it appears the tech giant aims to fulfill refunds prior to January 18th, 2023.

Although Google is issuing refunds, some third-party partners are looking at other means to transfer game purchases. For instance, Ubisoft is looking at a way to transfer Stadia-purchased games from the publisher over to PC. The publisher confirms this is to be done via Ubisoft Connect. Bungie, IO Interactive, and other studios are also following suit.

MobileSyrup will continue to report on the state of Stadia refunds as more information surfaces in the lead-up to January 18th, 2023.

Image credit:

Source: AndroidPolice

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Mobile Syrup

Let’s not forget about what Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft have done

On September 15th, Activision held its inaugural Call of Duty Next presentation to reveal the future of its massively popular first-person shooter series.

During the showcase, we got looks at Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0, among other titles. That’s certainly big news for many people, and I totally don’t fault anyone for getting excited. But one thing I’ve noticed that does disappoint me is the complete lack of acknowledgment of what’s the big elephant in the room: Activision Blizzard itself. As a result, I found myself with a rather icky reaction to everything that was revealed.

Bobby Kotick

Bobby Kotick (Image credit: Flickr — Dan Farber)

As you likely know, Activision Blizzard faced a slew of scandals last year. First, the state of California filed a July 2021 lawsuit against the company, alleging that it fostered a “frat boy” work culture in which many employees, especially women, faced sexual harassment, gender discrimination, unequal pay and other forms of mistreatment. One woman was even reportedly driven to suicide by the trauma she faced. In a subsequent report, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick — already known for being gaming’s most overpaid CEO — was specifically accused of knowing about these incidents and even working to cover them up. (One report suggested he actually threatened to have an assistant killed.) Naturally, Activision Blizzard claims it found no evidence that Kotick did any of this, which we all totally believe.

This was a big deal last year. A lot of consumers spoke up against Activision Blizzard, many employees came forward with their own stories and staged walkouts, and the company’s image seemingly took a well-deserved hit. That was great to see! There was a concerted effort to hold the company accountable. But as time has passed, we’ve heard less about the controversy, and now, we see little, if anything, about it. All of the chatter is about these new Call of Duty games, not the poor conditions at the company behind them.

“Even the publications that have blasted Activision before produced coverage of Call of Duty Next without a mention of the company’s work culture

A similar situation has happened with Ubisoft. In 2020, multiple reports came out about sexual harassment and other abuse at several Ubisoft studios, including those in Toronto and Montreal. Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot later said he was making some changes, including firing a number of alleged offenders, but employees have since come forward to say they’ve seen minimal improvement. This sentiment was echoed earlier this week in a new Axios report, mere days after Ubisoft revealed a slew of upcoming titles, including several entries in the Assassin’s Creed seriesThe Gamer also reported that developers at Ubisoft Quebec don’t want to work on that studio’s Assassin’s Creed “Project Red” because creative director Jonathan Dumont, who was accused of harassment in 2020, somehow remains in charge there.

Of course, scenarios like these aren’t black-and-white. I understand that you can simultaneously be against the wrongdoings of those in power while being excited for the work that the frontline developers have been pouring blood, sweat and tears into. I understand that gaming sites both provide coverage to help inform consumers’ purchasing decisions and to help stay afloat, especially as we continue to see layoffs at prominent sites. I understand that many players (the ones who aren’t cold and uncaring, anyway) legitimately don’t even know much, if anything, about what shady sides of gaming publishers as they’re casual gamers at best. I understand that the world sucks in a lot of ways and people justifiably turn to games for escapism. That’s all reasonable!

But when I look at Twitter and see people who know full well what Activision Blizzard and Ubisoft have done but are still just blindly and uncritically hyping up everything the companies are doing? Well, that’s disappointing. Even the publications that have blasted Activision before produced coverage of Call of Duty Next without a mention of the company’s work culture (To be fair, some did still mention it, like Rock Paper Shotgun, so shoutout to those outlets). It’s not at all difficult to address in some form, especially when people have the time to tweet about the promotional swag they receive from these companies. In fact, I’ve heard more from people about Sony and Microsoft’s public battle over the latter’s pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard than I have about the Call of Duty maker’s own transgressions (Because we all know it’s the billion-dollar corporations who are the victims here).

Now, to be clear, I’m not condemning individual fans or media. So many people in this day and age are judgmental about others, especially in situations where you have to walk a tricky line. There’s no “easy” answer here. Personally, I’ve gone back and forth about what I should and shouldn’t cover from these companies. Ultimately, I did decide to give coverage to last year’s Call of Duty: Vanguard and Far Cry 6 and this year’s Modern Warfare II, but I did so by framing it all from the perspective of celebrating the Canadians who worked on these titles and — as best as I know — had nothing to do with the larger scandals. More importantly, I still at least addressed said controversies in my pieces. I felt this was the least I could do (And even then, I know I haven’t been as consistent in that regard as I could have been).

Activision Blizzard deal

There are still so many question marks surrounding Microsoft’s pending acquisition of Activision Blizzard. (Image credit: Xbox)

I even genuinely wonder if there’s some unspoken assumption that Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard will magically “fix” everything, but even if that’s what people are thinking, it’s certainly misguided. For one, the deal is still subject to significant regulatory probes, so it may not even be approved. And even if it does successfully close, major systemic change doesn’t just happen overnight. We can’t be sure of what Microsoft may do. Hell, we still don’t even have a clear answer about what will happen with Kotick post-acquisition, so it’s way too early to view Microsoft as some big saviour.

No, we have to hold companies accountable ourselves — consumers, media and the like. Because really, is it a lot to ask that we don’t just forget about these issues? Sure, no one is expecting that we individuals on the public side of things can singlehandedly “fix” these publishers. But even still, can’t we at least do something? That we take even a few sentences of a single article or tweet to point out these problems? Not every story or tweet about these games has to be a larger commentary on the companies that make them — that would be ridiculous to expect — but even a few?

“There will always be selfish and entitled gamers, but it’s definitely been reassuring to see larger public recognition of the issue”

People get the most random and trivial things trending on Twitter every day — how about doing the same once in a while for company misconduct? Alternatively, why not at least follow along or even promote the great work of advocacy groups like ABetterABK and A Better Ubisoft to stay informed? Regardless of what action you take, developers give so much of themselves to make the games we love, and the least we can do is continue to call for their employers to give them the treatment they deserve.

It’s especially a shame because we’ve seen how improvements can happen in the industry when people collectively put pressure on companies. Take crunch, a major issue in the gaming industry that relates to prolonged overtime during development. After extensive coverage of Rockstar’s crunch culture surrounding games like Red Dead Redemption 2, the company has reportedly made meaningful strides toward fostering a healthier development environment. That seemingly came about, in no small part, due to many people coming together to point out “wow, crunch is bad.” Of course, there will always be selfish and entitled gamers, but it’s definitely been reassuring to see larger public recognition of the issue, like when The Callisto Protocol director Glen Schofield was widely criticized for recent comments that glorified crunch. It sends the message that it isn’t okay, and, hopefully, helps companies follow Rockstar’s suit.

Ultimately, I just hope that people don’t completely stop talking about these sorts of issues, which sadly seems to be the case much of the time with Activision and Ubisoft. Because in the end, we’re fortunate to be able to enjoy something like Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed without worrying about the publishers behind them abusing us. Why not try to make sure those who made these games get to do this as well?

Image credit: Activision Blizzard

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Ubisoft details Assassin’s Creed Mirage and outlines future destinations, including Feudal Japan

During its Ubisoft Forward event, the publisher celebrated the 15th anniversary of Assassin’s Creed. Marking this milestone for the franchise, Ubisoft revealed what comes next for the Brotherhood of Assassins.

Assassin’s Creed, of course, first began in 2007 and introduced us to beloved characters Ezio, the Frye siblings, Kassandra, and more. The stealth-oriented series has evolved over the years, escalating into wider, more open games such as the recent Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The franchise has become one of Ubisoft’s flagship titles, many of which were developed in Canada. Now, in 2022, Ubisoft is unveiling Assassin’s Creed Mirage, the latest game, in full.

Developed by Ubisoft Bourdeaux, Mirage is based around a young Basim Ibn Ishaq. The character was first introduced in Valhalla as a veteran member of the Hidden Ones. Mirage takes place on the dense streets of Baghdad during the Golden Age (861 A.D.,) 20 years prior to Valhalla. The game shares a similar global location to the first Assassin’s Creed. Players will be able to explore four distinct districts across Baghdad. Additionally, players will have the chance to visit Alamut, a key fortress of the Hidden Ones, as it’s under construction.

Ubisoft Bourdeaux confirmed that Mirage acts as a “tribute to early Assassin’s Creed games” and is going “back to the roots” of the franchise. Players can expect to leverage stealth and fluid parkour to take down targets. Throughout the game, Basim will climb the ranks of the Hidden Ones, becoming the master assassin we see in Valhalla. Mirage introduces a new stealth-based mechanic where Basim can slow down time, mark multiple targets and launch a shift assassination. The game is also said to have improved level design, catered to providing assassination opportunities for faster, seamless parkour and modernized assassinations.

In Mirage, we see Basim train and take the first steps in the Brotherhood. He is mentored by a fellow assassin and former Persian slave, Roshan. The studio announced that Shohreh Aghdashloo, known for her work on The Expanse, provides the voice for Roshan.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage will be available in 2023. Players can now preorder the title on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Amazon Luna, and Google Stadia.

The future of the series

While there was a lot of focus on Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Ubisoft is developing additional titles within the franchise.

One of which is bound to pique the interest of a lot of fans. At long last, Ubisoft is moving forward on a mainline Assassin’s Creed title based in Feudal Japan, developed under the guise of Assassin’s Creed Project Red. Not much has been revealed as of yet, though early concept art shows a female protagonist. This character is shown to be donning era-specific Assassin attire and a katana-like sword. Assassin’s Creed Project Red is tentatively scheduled to launch after Mirage.

Additionally, Ubisoft Montreal is well on its way to developing Assassin’s Creed Codename Hexe. Ubisoft kept much of the game’s concepts under wraps. However, the publisher notes the game is set in 16th-century Europe. The brief conceptual trailer shows a much darker tone, alluding to witch hunts and the like.

Ubisoft also disclosed its work on the long-rumoured and tentatively titled “Assassin’s Creed Infinity.” Ubisoft says it “is not a game per se.” Instead, it sounds more like a social platform and a “hub” between Codename Red and Codename Hexe. Ubisoft states that it is “the single entry point for fans into the Assassin’s Creed franchise in the future.” Codename Infinity unites all games and players while integrating standalone multiplayer experiences, though the extent of all of this is incredibly vague.

The future of Assassin’s Creed isn’t only destined for console, PC, and the cloud. Ubisoft is developing Codename Jade, a new mobile game. Codename Jade is set in Ancient China and aims to offer a traditional Assassin’s Creed experience optimized for mobile devices.

Ubisoft is also releasing a documentary to highlight the impact Assassin’s Creed has had. Beyond the Creed features interviews from developers, community members, and fans. Additionally, the documentary offers a look at conceptual pieces of early games and in-development assets.

Even more content is launching for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Off the heels of the Dawn of Ragnarok DLC, the team is launching The Last Chapter, a new piece of content for the game. “It’s time to say goodbye,” Eivor says in the opening of a small cinematic, setting the tone. The Last Chapter is a free DLC launching later this year.

The future of Assassin’s Creed seems bright and Ubisoft does not appear to be slowing down. Projects both big and small are being developed by a number of core teams. These projects will likely fill out Ubisoft’s release calendar for the next couple of years.

Image credit: Ubisoft

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Ubisoft Forward to focus on Mario + Rabbids, Skull and Bones, and Assassin’s Creed

Ubisoft is hosting another installment of its Ubisoft Forward games showcase on September 10th. The publisher has revealed that the live streamed event is set to provide “updates on upcoming games.” Additionally, the publisher will offer a look at some new titles.

Throughout Ubisoft Forward, fans will be shown updates for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope and Skull and Bones. The former is being developed in partnership with Nintendo and launches exclusively on Nintendo Switch on October 20th. Skull and Bones, the open-world pirate game, has seen a number of delays. However, the game is due to launch on November 8th on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PC, Amazon Luna and Google Stadia.

Seeing as though both titles are to launch this fall, it makes sense that some time would be dedicated to highlighting gameplay, cinematics, and drum up excitement.

Last week, Ubisoft officially announced its working on Assassin’s Creed Mirage. The game is said to focus on a younger Basim, who was first introduced in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. The game also depicts a setting reminiscent of Baghdad. Previous reports claim Mirage will be a more contained game focusing on stealth and harkening back to the series’ roots.

The publisher has already confirmed that more on Mirage will be showcased during the Ubisoft Forward. However, the company notes that the event will incorporate “a special Assassin’s Creed showcase” where “the future of the franchise.”

This year marks the 15th anniversary of Assassin’s Creed. Alongside the announcement of a new title, it will be interesting to see how Ubisoft chooses to celebrate the occasion. Recently, Ubisoft had an Assassin’s Creed booth at FanExpo Canada in Toronto in dedication to the anniversary. However, with Mirage being a standalone title, one must wonder if a new mainline entry will be shown.

Ubisoft Forward will be available to stream on YouTube, Twitch, and Ubisoft’s website. The event kicks off with a preshow at 2:35 pm ET/11:35 am PT.

Image credit: Ubisoft

Source: Ubisoft via @geoffkeighley

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Ubisoft officially revealed Assassin’s Creed Mirage, featuring a younger Basim

Following numerous rumours and leaks, Ubisoft has confirmed Assassin’s Creed Mirage is the next title in the long-running franchise.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage is the next Assassin’s Creed game,” Ubisoft writes in a tweet. Alongside the confirmation of the Mirage title, the developer shared a key art image for the game that depicts a younger Basim, who was first introduced in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Basim is shown to be wielding a hidden blade and is joined by an eagle in the background. The setting appears to confirm the reports that the game is set in Baghdad.

Earlier this year, rumours began surfacing that an Assassin’s Creed title, codenamed “Rift,” was in development. It was said to first be an expansion for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla prior to spinning off into its own standalone game. Based on what’s been revealed, this likely indicates Mirage to be the game in question.

According to reports, Mirage is said to be “smaller in scope” and won’t offer an open-world experience as large as Valhalla or its predecessor, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Instead, the game is to go “back to AC basics,” as Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier claims.

The next mainline title, codenamed “Assassin’s Creed Infinity,” is in development and is expected to feature live service features.

This year marks the 15th anniversary of Assassin’s Creed. More information on Assassin’s Creed Mirage is around the corner. Ubisoft confirms its plans to talk about the game during its Ubisoft Forward presentation on September 10th. A live streamed event kicks off at 3pm ET/12pm PT.

Image credit: Ubisoft

Source: @AssassinsCreed

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Ubisoft delays Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora to April 2023 at the very least

Ubisoft has announced that it has delayed Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. The first-person shooter set in the Avatar universe is now due to launch during the company’s 2023-2024 fiscal year.

The delay comes as part of Ubisoft’s Q1 earnings report. The shuffling of release now places the launch of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora in April 2023 at the very earliest. The game was first revealed by Ubisoft last year. Ubisoft Massive, the team behind The Division is leading development. Its initial 2022 release would have aligned nicely with James Cameron’s Avatar: the Way of Watch. The sequel film releases in theatres on December 16th.

“We are committed to delivering a cutting-edge immersive experience that takes full advantage of next-gen technology, as this amazing global entertainment brand represents a major multi-year opportunity for Ubisoft,” the company says.

Ubisoft did not offer any reasoning behind the delay of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. However, it is not the only game to now fall into 2023. Ubisoft confirms another “smaller unannounced premium game” is also exiting this fiscal year and into the next.

The news doesn’t stop there. Ubisoft is also reportedly cancelling the development of its planned Splinter Cell VR title. Ghost Recon Frontline, a 100-player battle royale title will no longer release either. Plus, two other unannounced games are no longer moving forward. The former Splinter Cell VR title was being developed in partnership with Meta and was to be exclusive to Meta headsets.

Ubisoft’s latest round of news undoubtedly reflects what many other studios are experiencing. Given the tumultuous development cycles during the COVID-19 pandemic, releases frequently alter and plans don’t pan out as intended. Although delays are never easy to swallow for fans, the hope is that the studio can take the extra time to refine the game.

Image credit: Ubisoft

Source: Ubisoft Via: IGN

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Ubisoft’s Skull and Bones to release in November

Ubisoft’s long-awaited Skull and Bones finally has an official release date. The open-world pirate game will release on November 8th on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PC, Amazon Luna and Google Stadia.

Ubisoft unveiled the game at its Ubisoft Forward event earlier today, with information about the game’s live-service format and gameplay, as seen in the video below:

Skull and Bones is a pirate game set in the 17th-century Indian Ocean. The age is being referred to as the “Golden Age of Piracy,” where players start on an island with nothing and get to work their way up to becoming the most feared pirate by taking down fellow pirates, uncovering treasure and completing contracts.

The title was first announced back at E3 2017. Ubisoft showed off the title again at E3 2018, saying that the game would be ready for 2019 release. However, that never happened due to development issues and accusations of workplace sexual harassment at Ubisoft Singapore. Following the incident, COVID-19 rocked the video game industry, with delays left and right, and Skull and Bones seemingly bore the brunt.

A gameplay video of the upcoming title leaked back in April that showed the game in action. It was shared by Reddit user ‘Wesam_L’ and offered a clear look into how the title looks and feels. The video has since been deleted.

The open-world pirate game will release on November 8th on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PC, Amazon Luna and Google Stadia. Ubisoft didn’t announce the title’s price.

Image credit: Ubisoft

Source: Ubisoft

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The Division will arrive on mobile in 2023

Ubisoft will release Tom Clancy’s The Division Resurgence on mobile sometime in 2023, with testing now available.

The free-to-play RPG shooter will arrive on both iOS and Android next year. A new storyline based in New York City will be included.

The Division Resurgence will allow players to play solo or co-op in NYC while battling enemies with custom loadouts, unique weapons and gadgets, and gathering and crafting loot for gear upgrades.

Players will get a chance to play a test run of the game before release through this sign up page.

Image credit: Ubisoft

Source: Ubisoft