Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft’s latest game, was all set for a glorious debut with its new storyline until it got a digital slap in the face from Japanese players. The outrage spread like wildfire, and now we’ve got a global protest hotter than a gamer’s GPU.
Petitions are popping up faster than loot boxes, with thousands of signatures. But how did this anticipated blockbuster go from hero to zero? Let’s dive into the cause!
1. Is Assassin’s Creed Shadows Cancelled? Uncovering Rumors
Ubisoft has not canceled Assassin’s Creed Shadows as of now. The game is still available to pre-order from Ubisoft’s official website and is scheduled for release on November 15, 2024.
The reason for such a rumor lies in the controversy that Assassin’s Creed Shadows failed to present Japan with historical accuracy. The game has a dual protagonist system, with one character being a female shinobi named Naoe and the other being a historical African figure representing a samurai called Yasuke.
2. Controversies Regarding Assassin’s Creed Shadows
After the release of its official trailer, Assassin’s Creed Shadows became popular rapidly, but in a negative sense. The game faced significant backlash, with Japanese players creating a petition that garnered 92,000 signatures.
Shimizu Toru raised the petition at Change.org, which criticized the game for its lack of historical accuracy and cultural representation.
The petition also states,
Based on Japanese samurai, the game disregards the fact that samurai were a higher class of warriors and should have been depicted as ‘gokenin’ or servants of nobles. Critics have called the game “a serious insult to Japanese culture and history” and suggested that the creators’ intent may be “linked to Asian racism.” They have called for the game’s release to be canceled until Ubisoft demonstrates “sincere research and respect for Japanese history and culture.”
Another reason for the hatred toward the game is its similarity to One Piece. Ubisoft featured a sword at their booth during the Japan Expo in France from July 11 to July 14.
The sword displayed in the popup was Yasuke’s mask and sword; the latter closely resembles Roronoa Zoro’s sword from One Piece. Honestly, they are the same swords.
This has added fuel to the fire as One-Piece fans, or rather hardcore Zoro fans, are revolting against Ubisoft. Everything is going against the company, and things are looking worse for them.
3. Ubisoft’s Response Regarding the Backlash
Ubisoft has not yet issued a public response to the petition, and the game’s release is slated for November 2024. Even though the devs have not responded, the uproar has stirred enough turmoil for the Japanese government to take matters into its own hands.
Hamada, representing the Japanese government, announced that he had been contacted about the game’s portrayal of the country and its people and intends to bring the matter before the Japanese legislative body.
Regarding the game’s male protagonist, Hamada mentioned that he would examine the character’s portrayal in the game, as Ubisoft addressed Yasuke as the series’ first playable character based on a real historical figure.
Hamada continued to criticize Ubisoft for not owning up to its mistakes, pointing out “incorrect building designs and unrealistic behavior” in the gameplay video and mistakenly including Chinese subtitles instead of Japanese.
After Hamada’s criticism, the release of Assassin’s Creed Shadow in Japan seems uncertain. So, will Ubisoft give in to the petition’s demands, or will Yasuke’s blade cut through the controversy swiftly? Only time, like a loading screen, will reveal the truth.
5. About Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Assassin’s Creed Shadows is an upcoming action role-playing video game developed by Ubisoft Quebec and published by Ubisoft, set to release in November 15, 2024. The game is the fourteenth major installment in the Assassin’s Creed series and the successor to 2023’s Assassin’s Creed Mirage, as well as the first title to be included in the Assassin’s Creed: Infinity platform.
Set in 16th-century Japan towards the end of the Sengoku period, the game will focus on the millennia-old struggle of the Assassin Brotherhood, who fight for peace and liberty, and the Templar Order, who desire peace through control, from the perspective of two protagonists: Naoe, a female shinobi, and Yasuke, an African samurai inspired by the historical figure of the same name.
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