In Japan, a Change.org petition has surfaced to ban Assassin’s Creed Shadows. It has now been a fair few weeks since Ubisoft lifted the lid on this year’s Assassin’s Creed title, announcing a dual protagonist adventure set in Feudal Japan – a setting that fans have been desperate to experience for many years.
However, Japanese fans of the franchise were quick to voice their disappointment and concern about the game, with the most extreme claims suggesting that Ubisoft is floating racism and severe historical inaccuracy in Shadows, which is set to be released in November.
Take Down Shadows
In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, users can assume control of Naoe, a shinobi, or Yasuke, a samurai and the series’ first protagonist to be based on a real historical figure. One of the main concerns is that Yasuke is being portrayed as a full-blown, respected samurai warrior in AC Shadows, and that is where the historical inaccuracies reportedly begin.
The recent Change.org petition that has surfaced in Japan has gathered almsot 30,000 signatures. Here’s the gist of the petition:
Recently, the lack of historical accuracy and cultural respect has been a serious issue regarding the upcoming game “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” by game developer Ubisoft. 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. 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. We need your signature. Sign this petition to let Ubisoft know the importance of cultural respect and historical accuracy.
The Assassin’s Creed Shadows trailer (especially the one aired in Japanese) picked up a pretty awful likes-to-dislikes ratio. Players in other regions had some issues with the game’s flow and overall appearance, with many ruing the fact that it’s moving back to the massive open-world RPG model that was first introduced in 2017. That subsequently pushed many long-time fans out of the franchise, and it’s one of the reasons why AC Mirage did so well in 2023 – it was a small-form return to glory for the franchise.
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