Assassin’s Creed Shadows developers respond to criticism over game’s ‘historical accuracy’

Developers behind Assassin’s Creed Shadowsthe upcoming Assassin’s Creed set in feudal Japan, issued a statement on Tuesday which addressed the negative reactions to the game, which appear to be largely due to the addition of Yasuke, a black samurai, as one of the two playable characters.

In their statement, Ubisoft’s developers specifically addressed “our Japanese players,” who criticized the game for alleged historical inaccuracies and a mistake in the video that included Chinese subtitles. Assassin’s Creed Shadows. “We recognize that some elements in our promotional materials have caused concern within the Japanese community,” developers said in a statement. “For this, we sincerely apologize.”

But developers at Ubisoft also stressed that while they have “put great effort into ensuring an immersive and respectful representation of feudal Japan,” the developers “never intended to present any of our Assassin’s Creed games, including Assassin’s Creed Shadowsas factual representations of history or historical characters.”

“Assassin’s Creed Shadows “is designed primarily as an entertaining video game that tells a compelling historical fiction story set in Feudal Japan,” Ubisoft explained. “Our team worked extensively with external consultants, historians, researchers, and internal teams at Ubisoft Japan to inform our creative choices.”

At the heart of the petty controversy surrounding Assassin’s Creed Shadows are the playable characters: Yasuke, a black samurai, and Naoe, a Japanese shinobi. Yasuke’s position as a samurai has been a source of debate, and given the lack of historical documentation on the man, a servant of Oda Nobunaga, some have taken issue with Ubisoft’s game calling him a samurai.

A recent, much shared message from Japanese historian Yu Hirayama claims that Yasuke was indeed given samurai status by Nobunaga. Hirayama cites Yasuke’s stipend, housing, and sword given to him by Nobunaga, but acknowledges that Nobunaga’s enemies did not view Yasuke as a samurai.

Regardless of Yasuke’s official title in Japanese history, Ubisoft stressed that it is not making a history book, but a piece of fiction. How in-game characters react to Yasuke as a samurai is important to the plot of Assassin’s Creed Shadowsaccording to the developers.

While we strive for authenticity in everything we do, Assassin’s Creed games are works of fiction inspired by real historical events and figures. From the beginning, the series has taken creative liberties and incorporated fantasy elements to create compelling and immersive experiences. The depiction 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. While Yasuke is depicted as a samurai in Assassin’s Creed Shadowswe recognize that this is a matter of debate and discussion. We have carefully woven this into our story and with our other main character, the Japanese shinobi Naoe, who is equally important to the game, our dual protagonists offer players different gameplay styles.

Ubisoft’s statement also emphasizes that it “has worked extensively with external consultants, historians, researchers, and internal teams at Ubisoft Japan to inform our creative choices,” but that those people “are in no way responsible for the decisions made by the creative teams in the best interest of gameplay and entertainment. Therefore, we respectfully request that criticism not be directed at our employees, both internal and external.”

That request is likely an attempt to thwart further harassment aimed at outside agencies that work with gaming companies like Ubisoft to assess and improve cultural representation in games. Earlier this year, video game consultants at Sweet Baby Inc. saw many of its current and former employees become targets of harassment over complaints that the agency was “forcefully” promoting diversity in gaming.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be released on November 15 for Mac, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.