‘Star Wars Outlaws’ devs renounce oppression and inequality

The developers behind the latest Star Wars Outlaws video game denounced oppression and inequality in a series of images about what equality means to them.

The Swedish developers at Massive Entertainment, a subsidiary of Montreal’s Ubisoft, celebrated International Women’s Day by posing with their arms sideways in an attempt to depict an equal sign, with #EachForEqual on their photos.

The team wasted no time getting into woke responses; the first female employee responded by saying equality, to her, meant “not having to do other people’s emotional labor.”

The first male employee stated that equality meant “renouncing all forms of oppression.”

“Feeling safe without anxiety and fear of being judged,” another employee added, while a succinct male employee simply said, “It’s in the word.”

A female employee, who appeared in a shirt that read “Baby it’s [cold] outside” with the word “cold” missing — perhaps in protest to the 1944 song — said that equality meant “having representation” in games, which are “written and created by people from the communities we represent.”

“That is huge,” she added.

The lengthiest response was also the most buzz-word laden and political response.

“Equality means that all people — regardless of their birth or background — deserve the same respect and opportunity,” a male employee began.

“For some, this will mean being provided aid so that they may aspire to rise above social, mental, or physical friction which might otherwise prevent them from succeeding,” he continued.

“We’re all on this boat together, and we don’t have long on this ride. Be kind. Be weird. Be free. Trans rights are human rights,” he added.

Not all answers were infused with woke ideology; one male employee wearing a hat with a drink in his hand declared that the team was “here to work, and if anything, we should be judge[d] by our competences, not by the way we look.”

Another simply said “respect,” while others stuck to a reasonable definition of equality, taking it to mean that people should be treated fairly no matter their background.

The progressive responses are not atypical of the group, however, which boasts a feature image of pride flags on the company’s page regarding commitments.

Participating in Malmo, Sweden’s yearly pride parade, is listed as a company-wide commitment to “the belief that everyone should have the same value, rights, and opportunities – no matter who you love or how you identify.”

“This commitment is deeply integrated in the Massive culture,” the studio wrote. It added, “We share the common belief that diverse and inclusive teams have the possibility to make better games. In our continued support of diversity and inclusivity, we are proud to once again walk with Massive pride in the Parade.”

Another commitment from the company is raising climate awareness in the video-game industry. Massive Entertainment entered into a partnership with 40 Nordic gaming companies, agreeing to make “the climate issue” one of the industry’s top priorities.

Fans have complained that the developers of the Disney-owned Star Wars game have gone out of their way to make their lead female protagonist less attractive.

Actress Humberly González plays the character Kay Vess and has received an outpouring of both sarcastic and sympathetic commentary from gamers about her portrayal.

“I would be very upset what they did to your attractiveness and downplay it. I would have a lawsuit for bastardizing your looks. You’re a beautiful woman,” one fan wrote on the actress’ Instagram post promoting the game.

“I will be honest…you are a beautiful woman. What they (UBISOFT) did to your model in the game is an absolute disgrace…they changed everything to fit their narrative. You [deserve] better than that,” another fan decried.

Another comment asked, “What’s your opinion about making your character model ugly? Do you feel insulted?”

Needless to say, video game fans are growing fed up with DEI-laden gaming companies and their enforcement of progressive narratives.

Parent company Ubisoft hasn’t helped its cause with its own statements related to its customers, either.

In January 2024, Philippe Tremblay, director of subscriptions at Ubisoft, spoke about the company’s desire to push gamers toward a subscription-based model in which users do not own their own games.

“One of the things we saw is that gamers are used to, a little bit like DVD, having and owning their games. That’s the consumer shift that needs to happen. They got comfortable not owning their CD collection or DVD collection. That’s a transformation that’s been a bit slower to happen [in games],” Tremblay explained.

The subscription executive rationalized his position by offering a surety that gaming progress would not be lost.