I'm really proud of this video. We haven't done many like it in a while, and Kane really knocked it out of the park in the editing department. I've spent quite a long time trying to decide how to handle Sparks of Hope. The idea for this video has been cooking ever since the announcement, and ultimately I felt it was the right path to take. As I say in the video, I don't hold a grudge against anyone who plays or reviews the game. But in the end I'm glad that I ultimately did what felt right to me (even if it means Ubisoft will DEFINITELY never work with me again LOL).

The fact that Arlo can tackle a topic like this with tact and maturity, while still being a fuzzy blue monster guy, is impressive.

the workplace abuse at Ubisoft was just starting to be unravelled when the whole Activision/Blizzard scandal hit, and that absolutely steam rolled it from being seen in the public eye. we at least spoke about the horrors of ActiBliz, and that alone is by no means enough, but Ubisoft also needs to be held to the flame, and I'm glad someone is finally talking about it. Thanks for having integrity Arlo.

There's a saying in the corporate world: HR's job isn't to help employees; it's to keep the company looking good. So yeah, the reason why that entire department to "make sure employees are treated fairly" doesn't do that is probably because its actual job is to make sure that the company looks like it treats its employees fairly, such as giving the appearance that problems don't exist.

Mad respect for you Arlo. We need more wholesome monsters like you in this world.

Props to Kane for making that fire have a reflection in the water. It really sells the complete destruction of opportunities as even the "water under the bridge" is on fire.

Mad respect to arlo for denying a paid sponsorship simply because it was wrong, we need more creators like you.

It's sort of incredible to see Arlo, someone who obviously makes his content very kid friendly and approachable for all audiences, talk about such serious topics with such potency yet clarity. I really think Arlo is an absolute phenomenal writer, and he knows how to gets points across EXTREMELY well.

Glad you covered this topic. I'm one of the many people who wasn't aware of this situation, and it's sad to know that Ubisoft mostly got away with this back then. It's really unfortunate, too, how this unique opportunity of giving the Mario IP to another company is tainted by all this garbage. I guess this gives more reason to check out indies over standard triple A titles.

I’m glad Arlo chose to do what he felt was right instead of what he wanted, this is something everyone needs to hear

It really is a shame that such a great game had to be attached to such a lousy company. I genuinely want this game and series to succeed, because it really is a labor of love. Regardless, good on you for sticking to your morals.

An important note to remember: HR is not for the employees, but for the company's reputation. Sure, in theory it's meant to stop corrupt work environments, but in practice it's only there to make the company as a whole look good. In smaller companies you are more likely to be heard out, but in big ones? Never.

Some things to consider: If this game fails due to a boycott or whatever, Ubisoft will not attribute that to their abuse. They will just see this specific creative team is less profitable and view this team or these kinds of projects with less favor. It's still valid to never want to give them money, just understand that it will not even touch their opinions on abuse, while affecting this team or style of project

It sucks that this kind of behavior is still allowed to happen. I understand why you'd feel uncomfortable reviewing their products, and I hope the situation with them will change someday.

I loved it where kit & Kysta interviewed Reggie not too long ago on their podcast, and they asked him what he wants to change in the video game industry and he states “change the level of true diversity in the industry.” “You look across the people playing games in this industry, and they come from all walks of life, variety from different experience, YOU DONT SEE THAT IN LEADERSHIP IN THE GAMING INDUSTRY.” I love this guy.

I’m glad this stuff gets talked about. I feel like In modern internet we see so much horrible shit constantly that we’re not only desensitized but a lot of times nothing gets done about major problems bc another big problem overshadows it next week sometimes the same week. It’s sad how much needs done but how little actually changes

I thought this was like one of those “This is not One-Winged Angel Rebirth” videos to hide the video from some kind of copyright, but this is definitely much more important than that, and I respect this immensely

That background made me laugh quite a lot. Glad that you’re willing to literally burn ‘dem bridges for the sake of morals.

It's always wonderful to see people - especially those with a platform - supporting those who reported the abuse. Speaking up leaves people in a very lonely and hostile place. And as we've seen countless times before, rarely results in any helpful change. Thank you both for adding your voices.

One minor correction: HR is *not* there to protect employees, they exist to protect the business. Sometimes those interests align, but more often than not, they don't.

Well said Arlo. Glad to see someone addressing this issues and letting people know what’s going on with these companies.

With you Arlo, it's best practice to not cover it. Oh, and don't forget the part with Activision where we found out that a lot of the members of their board are the same people who lobbied congress to continue torturing people during the Iraq war. The chick who invented "Enhance Interrogation Techniques" as a phrase, she's on Activision Blizzards board of directors. It's insane.

Thank you Arlo for actively working towards making the gamedev workplaces safer for all of us. Means a lot to hear it from you directed at such a big audience.

Thank you Arlo for making this video, because I had no idea this was even happening. The fact that you're bringing these issues to light at the cost of cutting ties with Ubisoft shows how much you care about doing the right thing, we need more people like you in the world.

Never thought I’d see an Arlo video with the words “sexual harassment” in the thumbnail!

Props to you for sticking by your principles Arlo. Honestly I wouldn't even have faulted you for making an exception to buying a Ubisoft game just this once, but it is commendable that you're being resolute with this. This can't have been an easy video to make

good on you for sticking to your morals and maintaining integrity even with a game like this that you're clearly extremely excited to have exist. It's extremely respectful, especially when sponsorship opportunities of your own are on the line. Keep being awesome Arlo :D

Thanks for doing what you can to support our nightmare industry getting better, Arlo. I was always hoping the industry would improve by the time I graduated and entered it. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to be the case.

I remember FarFromSubtle joking about Yves being a Bond villain, based on his E3 stage presence. Maybe their subconscious was telling them something.

The fact that you're willing to make a stance like this is one of the reasons why you're my favorite reviewer on KZfaq. I think you're absolutely making the right choice with this.

I really respect you Arlo for the way you address difficult, divisive topics. You are very firm in your moral stances, yet you communicate gently, without virtue signaling or judgement of others - with a smattering of humor to help the medicine go down. I really respect you; thanks for doing videos like this. Cheers!

I appreciate you so much for making this video, Arlo. There’s so much nastiness in the industry right now that I can’t in good conscience buy new releases from these companies… I’ve been buying pretty much all my games secondhand from indie shops and sellers these days. Thank you for keeping attention on this very important topic and helping hold these companies accountable. 💜

Really respect you for this Arlo. I wish more content creators and games news sites would take this stance. I haven't bought an EA, Activision or Ubisoft game for years now due to how bad I view those companies.

This is a really late comment, but I think one of the big reasons Ubisoft got away with what Blizzard didn't is a lot of people - not all, and probably not even a majority - didn't care so much about the abuses as having a reason to keep criticising the company because they were jaded or didn't like the direction games like WoW were taking. It's sad, but it's true. I saw people who were already deep on the Blizzard Sucks At Making Games Now train long before the news broke positively elated that they were "justified" in their hate - their subjective dislike of the games suddenly had real backing, they could point to abuse and discrimination and all this to get more people mad at the company for the exact wrong reasons. A lot of people were rightly critical because of the human side of things, but a lot of people only cared because it made them, in their eyes, "right". Many of that latter group lamented 'modern' Acti-Blizz as the problem and wanted a return to the old glory days of Blizzard Entertainment.. which was when all the abusers were in positions of power, when the culture began, and when many of the issues reported took place. But no, it was 'modern Blizzard bad, old Blizzard good'. They didn't care. That's why I think Ubisoft got by unscathed - it didn't have as many... passionate... people who already hated the company eager to shout from the rooftops at any hint of illegality or abuse.

This was a great video! I love when you talk openly about this stuff, and it's really good to continue the conversation about Ubisoft that stopped.

So glad you made this video, thanks for listening to your subscribers and being so candid and transparent about your perspective. Indeed there are many people with little or none knowledge about this kind of realities and practices. Thank you Arlo!! ps. Loved your reference about burning bridges

The shadow of the fire is a really neat touch, but I don't think that's how light works. Edit: Yeah, I meant reflection. but it's still a weird dark color.

I'm really pround of you Arlo! I was thinking to check the Mario and Wrabbits series, I'm a big X-com fan, but thanks to you, I'm good. And on another note: the bridge made me laugh way more then it should XD A splendid visual gag !

Always nice to see a video open with a warm, cozy fire.

Huge respect for Arlo, and to this video. I hope this reaches a lot of people.

Really glad you're talking about this! It did feel as though this had been forgotten by most of the community, I've not bought Ubisoft games (other than the odd pre-owned one) since 2019 or so now, but it seemed like everyone else had moved on, or just forgot given the amount of garbage everyone's had to deal with these last few years.

I was considering buying this game when you made this review. And I am 100% on board with buying it used or just not at all as long as he is still running the show.

I really appreciate you coming out and talking about this because, like you mentioned, not very many people were talking about it when the stories first broke and this is the first I've seen anyone on youtube bring it up in quite some time.

As someone who purchased the game myself, I stand by that decision even in light of this context, for a few reasons therein. First and foremost, Ubisoft Milan is a smaller team that as far as anything I can tell goes, hasn't had any of the ethical issues described for other studios under the Ubisoft banner. The game will probably represent a moderate amount of business for Ubisoft at large, but if there's any product I would be willing to buy into despite this controversy, it's one of the few made by a team not mired in such. It would help show that they can have talented creators without keeping the toxic presences around, or at least remove that as an excuse or deflection. Second to that is that I value the success of this game as a project too much to not put my money (and thus consumer say) behind it. I feel if we want to see more creative or out there games from Mario, if not Nintendo in general, the best way to make that happen is for those to sell well on top of being reviewed well, as Nintendo has let series that fall short of either fall off or stagnate. And as a small third point, I hardly bought Ubisoft products in general, so I don't exactly make habitual payment or consumption to them, and in this case especially, I'm pretty sure Nintendo's taking a degree of the royalties for the Mario IP's usage, so Ubisoft-main's cut is probably even smaller than usual if that's a concern. I can't speak for others, but I have several principle points towards supporting this specific game even if not supporting Ubisoft in general

That tea sipping was an incredible moment lol, well done!

honestly think this should be part of a series of videos, it's not only an interesting topic but it's also something people should be aware of

arlo legit is one of the best creators on youtube right now, i hope he sticks around to keep making good stuff and being such a positive person

I am really proud and happy to see Arlo’a mature view on this and how he dealt with this topic. And still he’s a fluffy monster dude

i hate that it has to be this way, but i 100% agree with you on this. This company just isn't ok and im glad to see someone actually trying to be a good person in today's world.

Thank you, both Stephanie Sterling and Arlo, for taking your time to talk about this, because in the end even if Ubisoft's games keep selling, this issue is too important to just ignore it.

Great video, and kudos to you for being so open bout this unfortunate issue. It’s important to talk about. Also nice job putting the reflection of the flames on the water too… you don’t sweat the details!

I've visited the Ubisoft Milan headquarters for an interview. I can assure y'all that (as far as the Italian branch goes, that is) it's a nice environment. The people I've talked to used to write for the Italian Official Nintendo Magazine back when it was a thing (until 2013), and their hearts are very much in the right place.

Thank you so much for making this video Arlo. I hate the fact that every other day I hear another update on how some company is making life Hell for good people, and further tarnishing the name of the games industry. Ubisoft needs to be held accountable, and seeing someone with your voice speaking out gives me hope.

Good to see content creators like Jim Sterling and Arlo to use their reach to shine the light on these issues and keep it from being buried.

I love this content, arlo. I appreciate it particularly because of how much I know you love games and stuff

Seeing a large creator talk about this is really nice to see. Myself and my friends have been talking about this since it first came out. It felt like a majority of the industry though seemed to ignore it, some even shutting us down, which was strange when the response to Activision/Blizzard was so strong and positive. Hopefully this can encourage people to continue fighting against Ubisoft and their horrendous misconduct.

Thank you so much for using your platform to speak about these issues! I'm part of the group of people you mentioned that would've asked "why?" if someone commented that they'd be hesitant to support Ubisoft. Considering just how much vitriol I have towards Activision Blizzard for these same issues, it's so important to bring light to other companies who're guilty of the same.

this is golden arlo. Everyone should talk about those kind of things more.

It took me 18 minutes to realize the symbolism of the burning “bridge” 🤦‍♂️

Even if supporting a game that’s genuinely good and creative and what the industry needs doesn’t directly benefit the developers (it does but hey whatever), not supporting such game does directly harm them, and the industry. Nothing related to game sales is gonna make a bunch of executives rethink sexually harassing coworkers, this is a game that already has all the odds stacked against it, being connected to a franchise often seen as little more than proto minions and having the (unfair) reputation of just being for kids, while ALSO being a deep turn-based strategy game with an interesting story, which would be a bit more mature than what most of the rabbid’s target audience is capable of. It’s a game that right out of the gate appeals to almost nobody, and can only succeed based purely on its own merit and quality. The fact that the original game did well enough to deserve a sequel is incredible, and we need to see more of this, and we really need to support the game. And for the devs? If this game doesn’t do well financially, the team probably isn’t gonna be given nearly as big jobs and they’ll just be seen as less profitable. This is a bit like lecturing an underpaid, overworked chick-fil-a cashier/cook because the executives of the company are homophobic.

Never in my long time of watching your videos have I been more proud of you.

good on you Arlo, really commend your integrity about all this and using your platform to raise more awareness

Sadly human resources isn't about helping the employees and making sure that they are all being treated fairly. It's actually about helping the company save face and making sure that none of those employees step forward and cause issues. Human resources isn't your friend. It's a mechanism of the company to protect itself... Not to protect you...

This is what I love about your channel. You send joy to our hearts but do not fear talking about things that are not going well. Thanks for your work, lovely blue monster!

Thank you for bringing this more attention. Companies that allow abusers to get away with horrible things while punishing victims, that's the definition of evil. As much as I want to be a game developer, I can't in good conscience work for a large company knowing how awful the industry has become.

Really great to hear this from Arlo. This is the kind of topic that I hear every now and again from more industry news-oriented channels. Hearing it from a more review-based channel (especially one that's significantly more family-friendly) I think is great for awareness. Loads of respect for not taking a sponsorship deal out of this. That is true integrity. EDIT: I'd also like to mention that I'm surprised that very few people talked about Ubisoft's trying to hop on the NFT bandwagon with ONE OF THEIR MAJOR FRANCHISES. That was a major red flag for me and proof of the shoddy company culture.

Something everyone should know about ANY business: HR is NOT your friend. HR does not exist to stick up for the worker. HR departments exist solely to protect the interest of the company. If you raise a fuss that could threw a wrench in their cogs, they will find a way to kick you out. It is essentially a branch of the Legal Department, there to keep the COMPANY, not the workers safe from harm. The only, ONLY time HR departments will have your back as a worker is if your interest and the interest of the company happen to be aligned. So if you ever think to yourself "I'll take this to HR!" Only do that if you are at the point where you will just quit your job. Most likely, that will be the result either way.

My dad has always been really insightful and I remember he once told me that HR isn't here to help me, it is there to preserve the "interests of the company". He couldn't have been more right. We see the same thing at places like Apple.

I feel like you have made your feelings on this topic clear for a while now but I really appreciate you putting your thoughts together in this piece. Its is well done. Proud of you for putting yourself out there - definitely support more content like this!

thank you for speaking on this in such a thoughtful manner and the whole team for putting together a fantastic video on a difficult topic.

Thank you for talking about this Arlo! I was hyped for the new M+R but I had forgotten about all this stuff. 24-hour news cycle, amiright?

Arlo, Kane, you guys did amazing with this. Hopefully it inspires other video creators to make positive changes in their channels as well! Also, can we get a loop of the burning bridge as a sort of a Yule log-type video for the holiday season?

Ubisoft Milan are different to Ubisoft. Please don’t drag a small team into a situation where they have no connection whatsoever

This is your best video in a long time Great job Arlo

Succinctly put, good sir. I have massive respect for how you have handled all of this. Also could someone please make a gif of the end of the video with Alro sipping tea while watching the bridge burn? I feel that would be very useful.

Common misconception about the HR department: They are not there to protect employees. They are there to protect the company FROM the employees. They make sure things get handled before lawsuits happen. They run interference. Your interests and well being come second to the protection of the company. So naturally, if the HR department feels that ignoring your problems will not harm the company (like it hasn't for years) then of course they will ignore your problems, it is the cheapest immediate solution, so people gotta make it NOT cheap.

Promoting those who abuse is sadly very common. Twice I’ve been directly or indirectly involved in an abuse case with management in retail stores, and the way the company and their HR “solved” it by moving them to either a larger branch (so a promotion) or shifting them to a smaller branch but not lowering their salary (so less work for the same pay).

I really appreciate that you talked about this subject head on, instead of avoiding actually discussing what happened to not be too dark since you gotta be very clear when it comes to this sort of stuff

The burning bridge is such a good gag, mad respect for this video.

Honestly, thank you so much for using your platform to talk about this. Mad respect. Some companies have shown that it is at least possible to make cultural changes, but they only do so when it is in their best business interest... i.e. when there is significant public pressure. Sometimes it feels like Schreier and Sterling are the only ones yelling into a void about this kind of stuff while the industry remains a sludge filled mess.

Thanks dude for bringing it to peoples attention. Feels like everyone has forgotten about this.

Thanks for making this video Arlo, more creators need to talk about this. I'm glad you are using your platform for this

I am so so glad that you made this video. I just wish that you would've released the video before the game did.

Thank you Arlo for covering this topic! It's so important

So glad you're bringing attention to this. I am boycotting Sparks of Hope and it hurts but it's important

Thank you for making this video - it's so important and I'm glad that someone with as large an audience as you do is willing to talk about it.

Great video. Amazing to see you talk about how you really feel about these issues.

This is absolutely fantastic. I'm so tired of big youtubers complaining about practices they hate in the industry, particularly yearly cashgrab releases such as Maden or FIFA, then buying the games and dedicating them 40 minutes videos on day 1, blaming the playerbase like they're not part of it only because "its their job".

My brain just doesn't work the way you see it I guess. As you said, in a world full of evil, there's no such thing as ethical consumption. Which means I simply cannot bring myself to be selective about what I buy when it comes to weather or not it will support evil people. If I chose to never buy a Ubisoft game, I would have to never buy a Disney movie, and a Nestle food... etc. Monitoring that feels like a useless task when you really think about it. Seriously, even if I bought a completely different, Non-Ubisoft title, it would probably eventually get to some evil person. That's why, when it comes to buying a game from any compony, I examine the content of it, the message of it... weather it's a kind of game I want more off, and then make the decision. Many will say I am complacent or a consumer shill, but I promise you, I do have morals, and standards. I would never willingly hurt anybody, but making a decision that seems direct, like boycotting a game from a clearly evil compony, ultimately leads to a lifestyle of obsession about everything you buy or consume. I just can't do that. I respect you a ton, Arlo. Agree to disagree.

I would have never guessed that you would have talked about this to the extent that you are in this video and I am so proud to be a subscriber more than ever at this given moment because you decided to talk about this on your channel people need to know about this on all levels so thank you

Thanks for that video, on a sensible yet very important matter. In France, it made a bigger splash (as Ubisoft is still mainly managed by french family). It's a good thing to remind people that these issues are still present. Thank you!

I really appreciate this video, I feel like Arlo is one of a few video game KZfaqrs that I can trust has the wellbeing of workers in mind, and doesn't simply view games as mere products that come from a vacuum

Sadly, all that boycotting a game does when a company is as large as ubisoft, is show them that that games creative team and other members did not make a profitable enough game. If this sequel were to make less then the first one, all that would happen is a few high up guys would shrug and there would never be a third installment. There is no boycott>sales fall>conditions improve chain of causality unless all of the games for the entire company are affected, and at this scale its just not going to happen.

Always great watching your videos, this one was hilarious with the tea sipping but you raise some interesting points. All the best!

Someone needs to discuss these things. Thanks for not being afraid to speak up Arlo, I really appreciate that about you. The industry as a whole has a lot of issues and I think it’s good to discuss them.

As someone who's been actively boycotting Ubisoft since 2020, when this situation really started kicking off, this is one of the best videos I've seen on the topic. You're very well-informed, and the way you've relayed all the relevant information and your own stance on the matter are indicative of someone that understands the complexity and nuance surrounding this. Superb stuff.

I didn’t realize it at first, but I started to tear up near the end of the video. I love the first Mario + Rabbids with all my heart, and was so excited for this sequel. I bought it Day 1, and it has quickly become one of my Top 10 games of the year. However, now that I’ve heard this brave stance from you, I think I kind of regret not waiting to buy it used. I’m always trying to separate the art from the artist, but…this is bigger than that, isn’t it? I ask myself, will I sit on this topic and give it extra thought, taking a stand and refusing to hand the fat cats my cash? Or will I simply dismiss it and fall into the denial of “Oh, I’m just one person, my money can’t make a difference”? I’ll have to wait and see. Amazing video. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

I feel like the burned bridge analogy is very fitting for Arlo’s style

I’m happy every-time you make videos cause it means that you are care about mario a lot more than others

I appreciate that you've drawn your line in the sand and said not one step further, I hope your words can reach others as they have me, I was considering buying this game yesterday waiting on a few more reviews but I'll wait for it to come out second hand.