There are a lot of big changes happening in the video games industry, from the release of next-generation consoles to Microsoft buying Bethesda. Harassment allegation levied against Ubisoft have been another big story in 2020, and the Assassin's Creed Sisterhood movement continues its work to change video gaming culture from the inside. Its impact will apparently be evident in the company's next release, Assassin's Creed Valhalla.
The past few months have seen Ubisoft executives step down as harassment and sexism allegations started coming up against the company, and Assassin's Creed female writers spoke out about being bullied for writing female characters that ultimately had diminished roles. The voice actor for Aya/Amunet also recently opened up about how her role being cut on the Assassin's Creed Sisterhood podcast.
Recently, the Assassin's Creed community came together to celebrate female assassins with a Sisterhood symbol that combines Egyptian aesthetics with a looping snake to represent rebirth and transformation. Now, that symbol is becoming an official part of the Assassin's Creed universe by being incorporated into Assassin's Creed Valhalla as a customizable tattoo.
The Assassin's Creed Sisterhood is raising money for charity in an effort to pay forward the efforts of the community and help right the wrongs of sexism within video game companies. The initiative is selling a pin of the same design that is becoming a tattoo in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and all proceeds are going to Girls Make Games, an organization that helps teach young girls coding skills to get them into currently underrepresented roles the video games industry.
The official Assassin's Creed Twitter broke the news in a move to bring community and official developers together, referencing it as a "collaboration." While this is a community-kickstarted effort, it's still great to see the company officially recognizing that sexism is prevalent in video games. Though it's a small step, it's still a step in the right direction.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla will have multiple tattoos available that are inspired by historical Viking tattoos. While that isn't the inspiration behind the Sisterhood tattoo, it is worth pointing out that this is a fantasy game with plenty of other asynchronous elements present due to its overall theming. There's still a long way to go to fight sexism in the video games industry, but it's good to see people banding together to support charitable initiatives focused on lifting people up.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla will be available on November 10 for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X, and it will be released November 12 for PlayStation 5.
