Ubisoft's 4th of July Fireworks Canceled Early Due to Noise Complaints

For a French company, Ubisoft sure wasn't afraid to let its patriotism show this year. If you recall, I mentioned earlier that Watch_Dogs 2 recently got a new patch that added a free 4-player mode, and it was good. But also included in that patch, apparently, was a fireworks show designed to celebrate the 4th of July, set to run from June 29th to July 10th. Harmless fun, right?

Not according to Reddit, as it turns out. People flocked the game's subreddit, Twitter, and forum in droves to complain abut them, specifically about how loud they were. And while at first, Ubisoft was reluctant to remove them, defending their loudness by saying 'well, that's how fireworks work', after a while it became clear that the writing was on the wall and there was no point in getting defensive.

“The people have spoken and we have carried out their will! There was an annoying bug that snuck into our Independence Day Event that made the sound effects from the fireworks noticeable from everywhere on the map. They have been turned off as to avoid any further noise complaints.”

...Which, of course, prompted other players (who had been quiet until then, surprise surprise) to complain because they missed the fireworks. Which, again, prompted Ubisoft to respond:

“We liked them too! But when you’re playing the game at night for hours and can’t escape the popping no matter where you are, that’s not a positive experience for the player. It’s not possible to rush a fix for this so we made a tough choice to remove them. The heart says no but the ear drums say yes.”

Another case of being unable to make everyone happy. For what it's worth, I think Ubisoft had good intentions, and I liked the idea. But they also made the right call: usability and player experience matters more than American pride, as much as it kills me to say that.

Maybe next year, Ubisoft. If we're still alive.