Assassin's Creed Origins PS4 PlayStation 4 1

Historical accuracy is a hot button topic in the wake of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, with the game criticised for its lack of representation. Warhorse, the title’s developer, claims that it consulted historians in order to determine the ethnicity of the title’s cast, but some critics have pointed to the controversial views of the developer’s co-founder Daniel Vavra and alternate historical documentation in order to argue against that.

Now the release of Assassin’s Creed Origins’ decent Discovery Tour has raised questions regarding the importance of historical accuracy once more. Designed as an educational tool intended for use in schools and universities, the free-roam mode takes you on various tours through the title’s open world, explaining elements of Egyptian life. However one particular piece of narration has raised eyebrows on social media.

When approaching a classroom, the Discovery Tour explains that while both boys and girls are shown studying, this is actually historically inaccurate. It states that the team felt it “was not necessary to prioritise historical sexism over inclusive gameplay”. This is fair enough in the fantasy-leaning game, of course – it’s not something we even noticed, to be honest – but in the context of the educational add-on mode, it’s somewhat odd to see historical fact altered like this.

To be fair, Ubisoft is upfront about the changes it’s made and it gives a good clarification of why. But we wouldn’t buy a text book that includes inaccurate illustrations with alternative explanations, so we’re not entirely sure why the publisher has taken this stance. Is it a big deal in the grand scheme of things? Of course not, but it did strike us as odd. What's your view?

Update: In unrelated but somewhat connected news, Rock Paper Shotgun notes that nude statues have also been censored specifically for the Discovery Tour mode. This is presumably because the add-on is intended to be used in a classroom environment, but seems like it's taking things a bit far.

[source twitter.com]