Star Wars Outlaws' lead says 'bad faith' discourse discussing protagonist Kay's looks are 'not worth engaging with'

Ubisoft's Star Wars Outlaws' creative director Julian Gerighty dismisses negative discourse, saying it's not worth engaging with, contrasting Ubisoft's statement on Assassin's Creed Shadows' Yasuke being a real-life samurai.

The creative director of Ubisoft's Star Wars Outlaws has said bad faith discourse is "not worth engaging with."

Speaking to The Washington Post, Star Wars Outlaws creative director Julian Gerighty commented on the detractors of Ubisoft's new game, specifically those pushing a narrative that its protagonist, Kay Vess, isn't attractive enough, part of an online movement of commenters degrading female-led games in general.

"Kay is meant to be approachable, a petty thief who ends up barreling through this story, making bad decisions and centered with a lot of humor, humility, and toughness. That's what's important to me. And she's beautiful, come on," Gerighty tells the outlet.

"It makes no sense to me and it's not worth engaging with. If you engage with bad-faith people, there's no nuance and no possibility of real dialogue. So all we can do is make the best game possible," Gerighty concludes on the matter, shooting down any course of dialog.

Gerighty's comment comes around Ubisoft raising eyebrows for releasing a statement saying Assassin's Creed Shadows' Yasuke being a real-life samurai was open to debate. Another narrative pushed over the last few months has been whether Yasuke actually was a samurai in Sengoku-era Japan, despite the overwhelming historical evidence showing that he was.

In a stark contrast to Ubisoft's statement, the official Assassin's Creed subreddit banned discussion of Yasuke, on the grounds that "there is no debate - Yasuke was a samurai." Even Japanese government ministries have said they're not interested in investigating Ubisoft over possible historical inaccuracies because it isn't in their interest to do so. 

While Gerighty's statement about not engaging with bad faith discourse could well have been made days or weeks before Ubisoft's statement on Assassin's Creed Shadows, it's worth pointing out. Nonetheless, they're two markedly different viewpoints.

Read up on our own Star Wars Outlaws preview for our hands-on take with the open-world game and a deeper conversation with Gerighty.