A screenshot from Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft

The Star Wars Outlaws subreddit is reportedly banning individuals for criticizing Ubisoft’s latest game.

A screenshot from Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft

Reddit user Uglycoyote_ reached out to That Park Place and informed us, “Reddit StarWarsOutlaws is banning and silencing people who are critics of the game during early access also deleting posts. Found myself victim of this this myself after I got reports from other people saying they were banned.”

He then speculated, “This looks like damage [control] before the game officially launches this week.”

A screenshot from Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft

Uglycoyote_ shared a screenshot indicating he was banned from the subreddit, but informed That Park Place he was not given a reason as to why he was banned.

He explained, “I asked them with no reply then I asked for the moderator name who banned me and was muted for 7 days.”

Screenshot from Reddit user Uglycoyote_

Uglycoyote_ also informed That Park Place that the moderators on the subreddit were deleting a number of posts criticizing the game.

He said, “There were a lot of posts deleted on StarWarsOutlaws reddit and me and a friend replied to those posts also voicing critic[ism] about graphics, performance and so on. So my friend then posted about censoring posts and was banned for posting non-related topic comments for I think 3 day or so.”

“In that deleted post many said their friends got banned also. I got banned when I questioned the age of a user and his beliefs by stating that he blindly believes propaganda and described the critical parts of the game like performance, hardware needs, uglification of the main character and so on. Also I said he should be aware of false media hype like IGN,” he added.

Key art for Star Wars Outlaws (2024), Ubisoft

This action from moderators on Reddit is not unheard of and seemingly seems to be quite common. Moderators for the Assassin’s Creed subreddit threatened to ban any players who post in the forum disputing developer Ubisoft’s original claim that Yasuke is a “powerful African samurai of historical legend.”

The moderators posted a thread on July 28th titled, “There is no “debate” – Yasuke was a Samurai. If you disagree, you can do that somewhere else.”

The thread itself reads, “With the reveal of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, there has been an influx of certain individuals spilling into various communities online such as this subreddit and raising arguments about ‘historical accuracy’. As we are all exhausted of this tedious discussion that has been endlessly talked to death, not to mention exacerbated by a recent official statement from Ubisoft, we would like to give a final reminder to those participating in these debates as to what exactly this franchise entails, and why there was never any point to these discussions to begin with outside of thinly veiling bad faith intent.”

A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft

The moderators continued, “Assassin’s Creed is historical fiction. This means that while certain locations, events and figures may be based on reality, and can even have a slight focus on accuracy, their depictions are largely exaggerated for the sake of a more enjoyable video game. While all of our player protagonists have been fictional to date, the introduction of Yasuke has given some people the false impression that the above rule does not apply. It still does.”

The moderators then declared, “Yasuke, who is a samurai as confirmed by multiple reputable historians around the world including from Japan, may not have held as large as a role in the real world as he does in Shadows. This is okay. It is a video game. You are not meant to use Assassin’s Creed as a sourcebook for actual historical knowledge – it is meant to compel you to do your own external research after immersing you in a glimpse of authenticity. For a helpful list on how this is generally portrayed across the series, you may explore the following links: AC1 // AC2 // Brotherhood // Revelations AC3 // Black Flag // Rogue // Unity // Syndicate Origins // Odyssey // Valhalla Part 1 – Part 2.”

A screenshot from Assassin’s Creed Shadows (2024), Ubisoft

“We are not here in this community to debate on historical record. Most of us understand as fans that while these games provide us a great look into what historical settings could have felt like and have fun comparing them to actual record, we do not chase accuracy within this franchise and primarily play for other reasons,” the moderators continued. “So if you are specifically here to leave comments about your displeasure about Yasuke’s inclusion or various other inaccurate details that have been pointed out in Ubisoft’s depiction of Feudal Japan, it is time to understand that this is not the place for this discussion and it never will be. Feel free to take your displeasures elsewhere, away from this franchise and its communities.”

They then concluded threatening to ban anyone who disputes the claim that Yasuke is a samurai, “Any further comments attempting to dispute Yasuke’s societal status, disparage his inclusion in game or containing statements bordering on concern trolling for historical accuracy will be swiftly removed and met with a ban.”

A screenshot of the Assassin’s Creed subreddit moderator’s post

The PlayStation 5 subreddit also banned a user for expressing disappointment that Assassin’s Creed Shadows did not feature an Asian male as the main character.

As originally reported by Reddit Lies on X, after Ubisoft released the first trailer for Assassin’s Creed Shadows that revealed the game will allow players to play a female shinobi named Naue and the African Yasuke, user Golemisbest reacted to it in the PlayStation 5 subreddit asking, “Any other Asian people disappointed that we don’t get an Asian male MC?”

Reddit_Lies on X

After positing this question, Golemisbest received a message that he had been “permanently banned from r/PS5.”

The message stated, “Hello, You have been permanently banned from participating in r/PS5 because your comment violates the community’s rules. You won’t be able to post or comment, but you can still view and subscribe to it.”

Reddit_Lies on X