Assassin’s Creed Reddit Says Ubisoft Statement ‘Exacerbated’ the ‘Tedious Discussion’ About Shadows, Warns Users Against Disputing Yasuke’s Status as Samurai

Assassin’s Creed Reddit Says Ubisoft Statement ‘Exacerbated’ the ‘Tedious Discussion’ About Shadows, Warns Users Against Disputing Yasuke’s Status as Samurai

ByNews Polite

The main Assassin’s Creed subreddit has warned users against debating the historical accuracy of the upcoming video game Assassin’s Creed Shadows, specifically protagonist Yasuke’s status as a samurai.

Moderators of r/assassinscreed, which has over 700,000 members, locked down a post titled “There is no ‘debate’ – Yasuke was a Samurai. If you disagree, you can do that somewhere else,” due to “brigading” in the comments.

The post followed a controversial statement issued by Ubisoft to Japanese fans in which the company apologized for promotion materials it said “have caused concern” among the community.

The four-page message, posted in both English and Japanese, explained that Assassin’s Creed Shadows is not intended to be a factual representation of history. Instead, it is described as “a compelling, historical fiction set in Feudal Japan. Ubisoft added that it hoped Shadows would “spark curiosity” in players who then research the historical period the game is inspired by.

In addition to the apology regarding the marketing materials, the message also discussed Yasuke, one of Shadows’ two protagonists: “While Yasuke is depicted as a samurai in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, we acknowledge that this is a matter of debate and discussion. We have woven this carefully into our narrative and with our other lead character, the Japanese shinobi Naoe, who is equally important in the game, our dual protagonists provide players with different gameplay styles.”

While Yasuke has often been presented as a samurai in popular media, both in Japan and beyond, his depiction in Shadows has given rise to debate regarding the historical truth. The argument has lived side-by-side with criticism over Ubisoft’s decision to feature a Black man as a lead protagonist in a Japan-set Assassin’s Creed game – a backlash Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot alluded to while condemning “malicious and personal online attacks.”

The statement noted that the Assassin’s Creed series has always taken “creative license and incorporated fantasy elements” into its historically-inspired settings. “The representation of Yasuke in our game is an illustration of this. His unique and mysterious life made him an ideal candidate to tell an Assassin’s Creed story with the setting of Feudal Japan as a backdrop.”