Misinformation has always existed in the gaming landscape, but there’s been a particular uptick in activity on social media these past few weeks.
Initial concern about Sony’s revised DRM approach led to a tidal wave of misleading information last week, almost all of which was debunked once the platform holder released a statement.
And in the last few days we’ve seen an edited version of Saros’ ending garner huge attention, only for it to be a completely manufactured take on events.
Publishers and community managers are beginning to get wise to the grifting, though, and the Assassin’s Creed account has been particularly good at shutting down misinformation at the source.
Earlier this week, French YouTuber xj0nathan made some particularly strong claims about Assassin’s Creed Invictus, the upcoming multiplayer game set in Ubisoft’s universe.
He claimed there were some closed beta tests in the final weekend of April, which were – and we quote – “really f*cking awful”.
He’s since followed up with a screenshot from the closed beta test, which attracted the attention of the official Assassin’s Creed account, presumably because the source is under NDA.
“Nice try,” the account replied. “This might have started as an image from our private test, but it’s been heavily altered (most probably with AI). Not great to spread misinformation. For those genuinely curious about the project: we’ll share more when the time is right!”
In an attempt to save face, xj0nathan has now reuploaded the untouched image, which actually looks worse than the original one he posted. Asked why he edited it in the first place, he said he “didn’t want to give the game bad publicity and show just how catastrophic a state it was in”.
This doesn’t make sense to us, because in his original leak he argued it “could get delayed or even cancelled”. It’s not exactly painting the project in a positive light to begin with, is it?
Further reporting from Insider Gaming does appear to confirm the April test mentioned by xj0nathan was real, and that it’s rough around the edges, although shows “some potential”, apparently. Surprisingly, it’s said to be a Fall Guys-esque take on the franchise, with a realistic art style.
At the end of the day, these closed beta tests are designed to gain feedback, so we’re not entirely sure why there’s surprise about the game being in an unfinished state.
Ultimately, while we don’t think xj0nathan’s original comments were entirely manufactured, his decision to release an AI edited screenshot absolutely does call into question his credibility.
