Background

Gaming Media’s Selective Reporting and Weaponizing Controversy

Gaming FailsGaming NewsHere's the Tea 49 Ayefkay March 23, 2025

8 2
Gaming Media and Weaponized Reporting for Assassins Creed Shadows and KCD2
Gaming Fails Gaming Fails Gaming News Gaming News Here's the Tea Here's the Tea Stories Stories
add

Media Manufacturing Discourse and Sweeping Others Under the Rug

Ah, gaming journalism—the noble profession where integrity bows before agendas, and headlines are more carefully curated than an Ubisoft press conference.

Today, we dive into the strange case of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, two games with same-sex romance options, yet one got paraded around like the second coming of progressive gaming while the other got a footnote buried under a pile of Ubisoft PR fluff.

Hans Capon: The Romance Option That Divided Gamers

Let’s start with Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, the sequel to the historically immersive RPG that made “realism” its entire personality. This time, the developers thought, “Hey, let’s add a little extra…choice,” and in came the ability to romance Lord Hans Capon.

While Henry was canonically straight in the first game, I personally didn’t really care. It wasn’t a narrative forced on you like Dragon Age: The Veilguard and I didn’t really think anything of it.

Except, suddenly, IGN and the usual suspects in gaming media had an awakening.

  • IGN’s Hans Guide: Not only did they make an entire wiki guide for romancing Hans, but they also dropped a video tutorial so you, dear gamer, wouldn’t miss a single longing gaze or tender moment that you never asked for.

  • Social Media Overdrive: IGN’s X account wouldn’t shut up about it. Post after post, as if KCD2’s entire existence revolved around making sure players knew they could experience the 15th-century male bonding (along with some pretty graphic nudity). 

In fact, it was the first thing posted about KCD2 upon it’s release on February 4th by IGN, followed by a parade of Hans-focused posts in the coming days.

IGN Posts About KCD2 Hans Romance

Image Source: IGN Posts on X | February 4th – February 11th, 2025

In the past, Mark Kern (aka Grummz) had put his faith in Daniel Vavra, the lead writer and co-founder for Warhouse Studios, while helping promote Kingdom Come: Deliverence 2 vigorously. 

However with Mark’s involvement, I personally feel like he unintentionally put a target on KCD2’s back that seemingly left-leaning gaming media outlets decided to use as fuel for the gaming industry’s culture war.

But that’s just a theory – a ga…ahem.

That being said, you’d think gaming media was embracing RPG romance options with equal enthusiasm across the board, right?

Oh, my poor naïve reader.

The Real Stealth is Hiding Yasuke's Gay Romance Options from Gamers

Enter Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft’s latest historical interpretation with creative liberties so massive they’d make a historian cry. 

Unlike KCD2, this game comes from a company that has spent the last decade turning DEI initiatives into a corporate personality. 

And wouldn’t you know it? The game has romance options, including same-sex ones for Yasuke.

So, naturally, IGN gave it the same amount of attention, right?

Suspiciously, not even close.

  • The “Romance Guide” is a Silent Afterthought: AC Shadows has a romance guide, buried like it was IGN’s secret shame. No dedicated videos, no fawning social media campaign—just a quiet “oh yeah, this exists” that lives unceremoniously on their website.

  • IGN’s X Activity: While they were practically screaming from the rooftops about romancing Hans Capon, their coverage of AC Shadows has been… curiously romance-free. In fact, the game’s many, many posts on IGN’s X account are overwhelmingly hype-focused, glazing ACS relentlessly and avoiding the romance topic altogether. 

IGN X Posts for Assassin's Creed Shadows

Image Source: IGN Posts Chronologically on X Mentioning ACS | March 20th, 2025

Now, let’s pause and ask the important question – why?

The Media Playbook: Using the Eye of Sauron

Here’s where things get interesting. The same gaming outlets that downplay Ubisoft’s romances for some reason can’t shut up about KCD2’s.

Why?

My theory is that because KCD2 is made by Warhorse Studios, a company that has been openly anti-woke in the past and claims that it doesn’t cater to the industry’s DEI obsession.

Ubisoft’s Protected Status

  • Ubisoft loves DEI. It seems like they’ve spent years infusing their games with boardroom-approved diversity quotas, even when it makes zero sense. Remember the AC Odyssey DLC fiasco, where they accidently forced players into having a non-queerly conceived baby after touting its LGBT-friendliness? Oops, yea that went well.

  • Since Ubisoft plays nice with the media’s preferred narrative, their inclusion efforts aren’t controversial—so the gaming media doesn’t have to force feed it down anyone’s throat and potentially dissuade anyone that wasn’t aware of Ubisoft’s rainbow-laden past releases by discussing the gay romance options in Shadows that may be controversial to more conservative or moderate gamers.

Warhorse Studios = The Media’s Favorite Scapegoat

  • KCD2, on the other hand, comes from a studio that doesn’t historically fall in line. Daniel Vávra has been vocal critics of the industry’s forced DEI agenda, and that means everything done by Warhorse is scrutinized under a different lens.

  • In my opinion, the gaming press didn’t highlight the Hans romance as a positive—they weaponized it. By amplifying this particular feature, they likely aimed to provoke the KCD2 fanbase, hoping for outrage they could turn into more “gamers are bigots” hit pieces while dividing gamers to fight amongst themselves.

This Isn’t New—Gaming Media Has Been Doing This for Years

This selective reporting isn’t an accident. It’s part of an ongoing pattern where mainstream gaming media:

  • Promotes “woke” games that align with their agenda, hyping up every progressive element while ignoring gameplay, bugs, or actual quality.

  • Ignores or downplays similar features in games made by studios they dislike, ensuring that positive elements don’t interfere with their pre-written narratives. 

  • Finds ways to make “problematic” games look bad, even if that means highlighting things they’d normally champion in a different context.

And this is how you see games with amazing player reception like Black Myth: Wukong and Hogwarts Legacy getting absolutely shafted when it comes to awards and media coverage.

IGN isn’t alone in this. 

Kotaku, Polygon, GameSpot—they all seem to follow the same playbook. Whatever fits their preferred narrative and checks the right boxes gets front-page treatment, and whatever doesn’t gets buried or targeted by hit pieces.

Video Source: Hypnotic | YouTube

The Takeaway: Don’t Trust the Hype (Or the Silence)

If you ever needed proof that gaming media isn’t just reporting on games but actively curating what you should care about, this is a perfect example to me.

When KCD2 does something, it’s a big deal—even when it shouldn’t be. When Assassin’s Creed Shadows does the same thing, it’s “nothing to see here, folks”.

That should tell you everything you need to know.

Want More?

Check These Out Next!

Tagged as:

Share on
AFK Author

About the author

Ayefkay

Hey there, I’m Ayefkay, the guy behind reportafk.com and a gamer since I could hold a controller. When I’m not busy in a game or binge-watching some anime, I’m here - calling out the gaming industry and giving you the real deal on everything going on. If you’re tired of the same old recycled takes, you’ve found your new home. Stay tuned.

More posts

Be the first to leave a comment

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous

Next

About Report AFK

A place for gamers, by gamers, untarnished by legacy gaming media and their herds of sheeple. 

Sign Up For Emails

Site Links

Report AFK Gaming News
X-twitter Play Youtube Twitch

Copyright 2025 ReportAFK.com

Login to enjoy everything in ReportAFK.com!

Login to continue.

✖

Go Premium!

Enjoy the full advantage of the premium access.

Login

✖

Stop following

Unfollow Cancel

✖

Cancel subscription

Are you sure you want to cancel your subscription? You will lose your Premium access and stored playlists.

Go back Confirm cancellation

✖