Why not kill the piece previewing how playing the new Assassin’s Creed feels? Of course, that’s just not how publications work. EvenAs many games writers discussed that very same day, publications foster games writing on big budget games because that’s where the interest lies.
Games writing’s foundations lie in the promotional fan publications of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Fans want more places where they can engage with the franchises they love, and publications hire writers to adhere to those fans. While this may be enjoyable for many, this ends up with the very problem that occurred with the Ubisoft promotion. Serious issues within the industry, like Ubisoft being in the middle of an abuse scandal, are given the same treatment as promotional material for upcoming games.
Many of the problems within games culture have been enflamed or even caused by this relationship between games media and the companies they cover. Marginalized writers are given hardly any support to enter into the industry, and in many cases they must tokenize their trauma to even be included. How many Asian writers have you seen cover
? Many writers are taught to justify writing about games that would maybe be more reasonable to ignore in light of a game’s issues. How are we still talking aboutdespite its violent Zionist inspiration and exploited labor? And many of the independent outlets, like Uppercut, Into the Spine, and Re:Bind, who hold these publishing morals, aren’t supported with the same attention or money.