Assassin's Creed Shadows development team addresses controversy regarding historical accuracy 

The Assassin's Creed Shadows development team has finally addressed the Japanese community about the ongoing controversies regarding historical accuracy. Concerns over the game's portrayal of historical events and the Japanese culture have stirred up many heated debates online. Ubisoft has posted a formal response on their official X channels to alleviate these concerns.

This article looks at the message from the Assassin's Creed Shadows development team and explores how the stand that Ubisoft has taken fits the narrative of the game and the controversies surrounding it, regarding the cultural inaccuracies that have been brought up by unhappy fans.

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Assassin's Creed Shadows development team addresses the Japanese community

Many members of the community were not satisfied with the game's portrayal of feudal Japan, and the statement from Ubisoft aims to clarify the team's intentions and creative decisions while also acknowledging the issues that were raised.

As has been the case with most Assassin's Creed titles before, AC Shadows, too, is a work of historical fiction, and not a factual representation. The team mentions in their official release:

"However, 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."

The game takes references from historical events and mixes them into the overall narrative of the story to make it entertaining and historically relevant. The team further clarified:

"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."

To ensure an objective understanding of Japanese history and its culture, the Ubisoft team in Japan collaborated extensively with historians, researchers, and external consultants. This team then fed the main development group information regarding creative choices.

Although a considerable amount of effort was put in, the development team acknowledges that certain promotional materials might have created causes for significant concern among the Japanese community. Regarding the same, the development team behind Shadows apologized sincerely to those aggrieved.

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Yasuke's representation in Assassin's Creed Shadows

Yasuke in AC Shadows (Image via Ubisoft)

A major topic of the controversy surrounding Assassin's Creed Shadows has been Yasuke and his portrayal. Historically, Yasuke's exact role and his life remain a mystery. This character has been on the receiving end of a lot of hate, mostly because his representation has no solid backing.

However, the team defended their decision, explaining that Yasuke's background which is shrouded in mystery set the perfect backdrop for an Assassin's Creed story. The team mentioned in their statement:

"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."

The lack of records for Yasuke's life also extends to his samurai status, both historically and in-game. The confirmed information is that he was of African origin, and served the warlord Oda Nobunaga. His exact role is debated even amongst historians. In particular, Yasuke's portrayal as a samurai in the game has not been taken well by many fans, some of whom are Japanese.

Given that Assassin's Creed is a work of fiction and imagination, the creative team has the liberty to take a historically relevant character and spin their story about the same. And that is exactly what the development team behind Shadows did. In the same post on X, the team further explained:

"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."

Even if we were to believe that Yasuke was not, historically speaking, a samurai, the creative team has intertwined his playstyle and character to work in a duet with Naoe, a shinobi and the other primary protagonist who focuses on a stealth-based playthrough.

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The Assassin's Creed Shadows development team appreciated the feedback that they have been receiving and urged the Japanese community and players to keep sharing their thoughts respectfully.

The team further acknowledged that meeting everyone's expectations is a difficult task, but expressed hope that upon release, Assassin's Creed Shadows would be appreciated for the dedication and passion invested in its creation.

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For more content, check out the following:

• What's included in AC Shadows Collector's Edition?
• Is Assassin's Creed Shadows on Steam?
• How to pre-order AC Shadows? All editions, pre-order bonuses, and more explored
• Is AC Shadows Ultimate Edition worth buying? Content, bonuses, and more explained