The controversy over Ubisoft’s upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows is growing stronger. At this point, the game risks being banned in Japan. The Japanese community is calling on Ubisoft to discontinue the game—although it is unlikely that would happen.
The controversy took a new dimension over the weekend when it was reported that Associate Professor Thomas Lockley had deleted his entire social media presence and that the university had scrapped the program. There is even a claim that Lockley edited Yasuke’s Wikipedia page to promote his book.
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“Thomas Lockley appeared on Ubisoft’s podcast for Assassin’s Creed Shadows, and was widely cited in the edit revisions on Britannica and @Wikipedia as the authority on the claim that Yasuke was a samurai,” wrote Mark Kern, former team lead for World of Warcraft.
Today, Ubisoft published a message directed at its Japanese community, hoping to offer some clarity on the issue. In the new statement, Ubisoft claims that it never presents any of its Assassin’s Creed games as “factual representations of history”, which contradicts the words of game director Charles Benoit in an interview with Xbox Wire.
“First, we want to express our heartfelt thanks for all your support for the Assassin’s Creed series which now has its own history spanning almost 20 years,” the message began. “Over this time, we have explored various settings, time periods, and characters, from an Assassin during the Third Crusade to a Viking in 9th century England, and countless more”.
“…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.
“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.”
Fearing that the backlash will also fall on their external consultants, historians, and researchers, Ubisoft issued a disclaimer that the studio makes the final creative decision regardless of what their consultants have said.
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“We also want to clarify that while we have been consulting with many people throughout the development process, they are in no way responsible for the decisions that are taken by the creative teams in the interest of gameplay and entertainment. Consequently, we respectfully request that any criticism not be directed at our collaborators, both internal and external.”
The Assassin's Creed Shadows team has a message for our Japanese community. pic.twitter.com/AIyWNU9YhG
— Assassin's Creed (@assassinscreed) July 23, 2024
Reactions to Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Shadows message
Charles Benoit, Assassin’s Creed Shadows game director
The reactions to the message put out by Ubisoft explaining its motive with Assassin’s Creed Shadows have been mixed. While some have stood firmly behind the studio, others have taken a swipe at the studio for what they say felt like making racist claims against Japan.
VGT Gaming News director of content strategy, Ameer, wrote, “I feel like people have completely forgotten this screen shows up when you start ANY Assassin’s Creed. These games were always historical fictions and not meant to be literal history books representations.”
Another user with the handle @mrpyo1 said, “People really mad over everything these days, it’s just a game at the end of the day. It’s not that serious.”
@Dark_Mesyah wrote, “I imagine a world where you made a game based in Japan but without a DEI character and where you made it historically accurate at least, sure some fantasy here and there but stick to the script”.
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On the other hand, those who disagreed with Ubisoft presented strong opinions too. Seedify Gaming lead CM, Philton wrote, “The game was fictional but was inspired by the actual historical figures and you think its not serious? If you are going take somethings from history at least make it factual.”
Another user with the handle @domituaz wrote, “If they strive for accuracy in their other titles, they should be doing so here as well”.
David Veloz wrote, “Please don’t cave in to the trolls. The game isn’t supposed to be a history lesson, but an escape from reality. I can’t wait to play it.”
Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been attracting criticism since its announcement
Earlier in July, Ubisoft Japan had to apologize for the unauthorized use of a flag belonging to a Japanese military re-enactment group, Sekigahara Teppo-tai (or Sekigahara Rifle Corps). After the uproar, Ubisoft reached out to the group and apologized as well as pulled the flag from the game and website.
2019年10月27日に鹿児島県の妙円寺詣りの時に撮った写真から切り抜きですがアップさせて頂きます pic.twitter.com/Ccw0g21nHH
— 影山＠関ケ原鉄砲隊 (@matchlock_kage) June 17, 2024
“On July 3rd, we received a response from Ubisoft,” the groups later announced on X. “They accepted the criticism about the concept art and promptly deleted it from the official website. They also said that they would not be using the Sekigahara Rifle Corps flag in the future. However, they also mentioned that data that has already been copied is difficult to delete.”
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The flag would be retained on the hardcover artbook being sold in a $279 collector’s edition which comes with physical premiums. This is probably because the book has already been printed and any alteration will come at a huge cost.
Petition to cancel Assassin’s Creed Shadows hit over 90,000 signatures
A petition created on June 19 by Shimizu Toru is calling for the cancellation of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. The creator of the petition said the game lacked “historical accuracy and cultural respect”.
“The game is based on Japanese samurai and ignores the fact that samurai were a higher class of warrior class and should have been “gokenin” or servants of nobles, Toru wrote. “In fact, the first European to receive the title of samurai, William Adams (Miura Anjin), served Tokugawa Ieyasu as a 250 koku hatamoto.”
“In this history, Ubisoft continues to misunderstand the nature and role of samurai. This is a serious insult to Japanese culture and history, and may also be linked to Asian racism. We call on Ubisoft to immediately cancel the release of ‘Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ and show sincere research and respect for Japanese history and culture.”
According to Andrii Rusanov of IT Community, a member of the upper house of the Japanese parliament, Satoshi Hamada is considering an appeal for the government to officially investigate the distortion of history by the game.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is set to launch on November 12, but do you think Ubisoft’s explanation is enough? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.
