ASSASSIN'S CREED ODYSSEY Director Addresses The Recent Romantic Relationship Controversy

The ending of the recent Assassin's Creed: Odyssey DLC Legacy of the First Blade is more controversial than Ubisoft had expected. If you don't mind being spoiled – Alexios or Kassanda are having a baby.

It probably wouldn’t be a problem if not for the fact that Ubisoft was promising during Odyssey's promotional campaign that they won't "force players in romantic situations they might not be comfortable with." While it's obvious that at least one of the protagonists would have a child down the line (the player controls their descendant in the game's modern sections), some players feel offended.

Ubisoft has already apologized for surprising Odyssey players with this in-game relationship and now Creative Director Jonathan Dumont explains the situation in the following statement on Reddit:

"Reading through player responses of our new DLC for Legacy of the First Blade, Shadow Heritage, we want to extend an apology to players disappointed by a relationship your character partakes in. The intention of this story was to explain how your character’s bloodline has a lasting impact on the Assassins, but looking through your responses it is clear that we missed the mark.

Alexios/Kassandra realizing their own mortality and the sacrifice Leonidas and Myrrine made before them to keep their legacy alive, felt the desire and duty to preserve their important lineage. Our goal was to let players choose between a utilitarian view of ensuring your bloodline lived on or forming a romantic relationship. We attempted to distinguish between the two but could have done this more carefully as we were walking a narrow line between role-play choices and story, and the clarity and motivation for this decision was poorly executed. As you continue the adventure in next episode Bloodline, please know that you will not have to engage in a lasting romantic relationship if you do not desire to.

We have read your responses online and taken them to heart. This has been a learning experience for us. Understanding how attached you feel to your Kassandra and your Alexios is humbling and knowing we let you down is not something we take lightly. We’ll work to do better and make sure the element of player choice in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey carries through our DLC content so you can stay true to the character you have embodied throughout."

Dumont's explanation suggests that Ubisoft Quebec has received the players' strong message and might be already trying to fix that problem in a free update that will change the way this particular plotline unfolds now. Considering that you can finish every single quest in the base game as a homosexual or asexual character, it would make sense to continue that approach in the post-launch support or explain the reasoning behind the decision to show Alexios or Kassanda's parentage clearer.

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