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Ubisoft has issued a statement in response to Assassin’s Creed: Shadows and the cultural turmoil that has unfolded in light of its historical inaccuracies.
The apology is in response to months worth of outrage pointed at Ubisoft’s latest game. It’s set in feudal Japan, and the contentiously placed protagonists – Yasuke and Naoe – are central to the cultural conflict. Yasuke is a black Samurai in the game, which has caused a significant rift in alignment for Japanese people who want, and deserve, to be represented. The secondary conflict comes in the form of Naoe, who is female, prompting accusations of DEI bias from Western audiences, while prospective players in Japan have found more issues with the cultural inaccuracies in history and architecture in-game.
We have put significant effort into ensuring an immersive and respectful representation of Feudal Japan. However, our intention has never been to present any of our Assassin’s Creed games, including Assassin’s Creed Shadows, as factual representations of history, or historical characters. Instead, we aim to spark curiosity and encourage players to explore and learn more about the historical settings we get inspired by.
Ubisoft
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is first and foremost, designed to be an entertaining video game that tells a compelling, historical fiction set in Feudal Japan.
Our team extensively collaborated with external consultants, historians, researchers, and internal teams at Ubisoft Japan to inform our creative choices. Despite these sustained efforts, we acknowledge that some elements in our promotional materials have caused concern within the Japanese community. For this, we sincerely apologize. All game footage presented so far is in development and the game will keep evolving until launch. Based on the constructive criticism we have received, we will continue our efforts until we put this game into your hands – and beyond.
Further statements in Ubisoft’s apology reference cultural advisors who worked on ensuring accuracy, and the re-affirmation that the depiction of Yasuke is one of fantasy and non-historical accuracy.
“While we understand that meeting everyone’s expectations is very difficult, we sincerely hope that when Assassin’s Creed Shadows launches on November 15, players in Japan and around the world will appreciate the dedication, effort, and passion we have poured into it,” it said.
This comes at a time that the game is currently being ‘investigated’ by the Japanese government, who are concerned with inaccurate depictions of Japan in-game. Satoshi Hamada is part of the NHK Party in Japan, and coincidentally also a gamer. He brought the issue to light in Japan’s parliament, and tweeted that “[they] were consulted by a French game company about a historical alteration of Japan,” in direct reference to AC: Shadows. This is not necessarily a direct investigation, but rather simply that it has been raised as a potential cultural issue. It seems the issue focuses more on the fact that Yasuke is presented as a Samurai, which is historically inaccurate.
With Ubisoft’s apology in-mind (the Japanese investigation had begun shortly before) it looks unlikely that the game will actually change its structure. The developers seem committed to its original vision.
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