Star Wars Outlaws' lead says “bad faith” discourse discussing protagonist Kay’s looks are “not worth engaging with”
“And she’s beautiful, come on”
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The creative director ofUbisoft’s Star Wars Outlaws has said bad faith discourse is “not worth engaging with.”
Speaking toThe Washington Post, Star Wars Outlaws creative director Julian Gerighty commented on the detractors of Ubisoft’s new game, specifically those pushing a narrative that its protagonist, Kay Vess, isn’t attractive enough, part of an online movement of commenters degrading female-led games in general.
“Kay is meant to be approachable, a petty thief who ends up barreling through this story, making bad decisions and centered with a lot of humor, humility, and toughness. That’s what’s important to me. And she’s beautiful, come on,” Gerighty tells the outlet.
“It makes no sense to me and it’s not worth engaging with. If you engage with bad-faith people, there’s no nuance and no possibility of real dialogue. So all we can do is make the best game possible,” Gerighty concludes on the matter, shooting down any course of dialog.
Gerighty’s comment comes around Ubisoft raising eyebrows for releasing a statement sayingAssassin’s Creed Shadows' Yasuke being a real-life samurai was open to debate. Another narrative pushed over the last few months has been whether Yasuke actually was a samurai in Sengoku-era Japan,despite the overwhelming historical evidence showing that he was.
In a stark contrast to Ubisoft’s statement,the official Assassin’s Creed subreddit banned discussion of Yasuke, on the grounds that “there is no debate - Yasuke was a samurai.“Even Japanese government ministries have said they’re not interested in investigating Ubisoft over possible historical inaccuraciesbecause it isn’t in their interest to do so.
While Gerighty’s statement about not engaging with bad faith discourse could well have been made days or weeks before Ubisoft’s statement on Assassin’s Creed Shadows, it’s worth pointing out. Nonetheless, they’re two markedly different viewpoints.
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Read up on our ownStar Wars Outlaws previewfor our hands-on take with the open-world game and a deeper conversation with Gerighty.
Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.
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