Ubisoft Apologises for Using Re-Enactment Group's Flag in Assassin's Creed Shadows Art

It’s tucked away in the right side of the pic, doesn’t stand out at all. Could not imagine caring enough to spot that.

For all their "inclusivity and sensitivity" they sure managed to mess things up in a major way. Repeatedly.

Let’s be honest: every trailer or image released for a big video game is to be inspected with a fine tooth comb by at least one person on the internet. I’m guessing whoever put the banner in the game copied it from a picture of this reenactment group thinking it was historic, but couldn’t read Japanese. If you’re fluent in Japanese it’s probably obvious (remembering there are people who translate Hyrulian in Zelda game trailers).

If you think about it, it could have said anything; Swearing, Political comments, Advertising, ‘We will kill everyone’ or ‘We are fond of cheese on toast’. Ubisoft got lucky it didn’t say anything offensive.

@nessisonett SPOILERS

I think Ubisoft has a lot more to apologise to Japan for…

@Kienda Is this bait? I hope it’s not what I think you’re thinking of, otherwise this place is becoming more like Twitter everyday.

Ubisoft try not to disrespect Japan challenge IMPOSSIBLE gone WRONG

@ShadowofSparta

Calm down, I was not trying to bait. I was just stating my opinion.

I don’t think Ubisoft has properly honoured Japanese tradition/heritage or respected the Japanese people themselves in all of this.

That’s how I feel, and many Japanese people feel the same.

@Kienda Yeah I saw that hour long video with that japanese dude that went over the trailers and pointed out racial stereotypes and how Ubi totally ***** on their legacy and history.
I actually lost quite some respect for Ubi right there tbh (the little I had to begin with).

It feels like this game has a target painted on its back for some reason. I can't wait to play it myself but it seems like some people really have it out for this game.

I highly doubt there was any intention to offend anyone behind this situation. It was just a simple mistake is all but of course people make a mountain out of an ant hill. I just don't get some of the hate this game has gotten.

@Kienda They should apologize if AC Shadow a documentary game. But it's not. Even Yoshiki Okamoto, a Japanese, doesn't have problem with the game because it's not reality.
https://www.thegamer.com/yoshiki-okamoto-assassins-creed-shadowns-comments/

I get the criticsm but some people overblown it to the moon.

@Korgon It has to do with identity politics and people being upset that the samurai MC wasn´t anywhere near as important historically, as the game makes him out to be. It´s a bit similar to the Netflix Cleopatra situation.

@Korgon it's just that Ubisoft is making a mockery out of japanese culture (which many people in the gaming space appreciate). It's probably unintentional, but still rubs people the wrong way (myself included).

Unlike what the media usually implies, it has little to do with the character's colour (there are several instances of black samurais in anime which are celebrated by anime fans of all races), but rather the way they are handling the characters and the environment in the game.

Some people desperately want to call others "racist" and call it a day, but fortunately these are a minority.
Personally would like for the game to be good, but have little trust in it given what they've shown. It's a far cry from what most people wanted out of an AC game set in Japan

@Yagami yes, in a way it's very similar to the Cleopatra situation: it's a western bastardization of a foreign culture

Ubi... again at it's best. I wonder how far they go next time to disgrace Japan or other country...

@PuppetMaster If AC series wasn't build on replaying historical moments in virtual reality to find out where are alien artifacts hidden now, than I would agree.

Did Assassins Creed Origins get Cleopatra VII right?

It has been so long since I played Origins, that I cannot remember.

Cleopatra was white (as her ancestry was entirely Greek) and inbred. Even her name was Greek, and not Egyptian. Cleopatra translates to “Glory to my Father”. She was descended from Alexander the Great.

Of course, the ancient Egyptian people were also white, as are the Berbers, who are also from North Africa.

I gather that such a person did arrive in Japan, and was treated by the samurai lord as a complete novelty. Almost like a jester. In much the same way that our western culture once regarded such unusual people - “a sideshow freak”.

Is it that hard for ubisoft to get real japanese consultant that know japanese history? it's not only this that ubisoft wrong about japan in that period.

It's the total opposite of ghost of tsushima, I think ubisoft should consult sony instead rather than their current japanese consultant lol.

@Carck @Yagami
But you see thats what I don't understand. Yasuke was an actual person that the team is taking some creative liberties with, something AC has done literally since the earliest games in the series. Plus they have a proper Japanese protagonist in Naoe yet people seem to just ignore that.

And finally we don't really know just how well they handle anything story or culture related yet because the game isn't even out yet. I understand being skeptical considering the team doesn't have any Japanese developers on staff but I also remember people had the same worries about Ghost of Tsushima leading up to its launch and look how that turned out.

It just seems like people are jumping to too many conclusions before we have really had a good taste of what the game has to offer. Criticism of the gameplay is fair as we do at least have some idea of how that will be but story/culture criticism just doesn't make any sense to me, at least not not yet anyway.

@Korgon Ghost of Tsushima didn't have hip-hop as battle theme.
It is painfully obvious there is a world of difference between how both games approach Japanese culture and tradition.

Are we supposed to ignore the evidence that Ubisoft is doing a bad job?
I am not willing to pay 80 euros just to "make sure"

@djlard It's called historical fiction. The same as Kojima mixed real history and fiction in MGS or Capcom with Onimusha, KT with NiOh, Sucker Punch with Ghost of Tsushima, etc.

Again. I get the criticsm but Ubisoft never promote Shadow as a documentary game that boast 100% historical accuracy. So there's no need for them to apologized to the Japanese just because they put Yasuke as one of the protags, they made mistake with Oda family crest, or whatever.

@wiiware apparantely Ubisoft doesn't even have anyone willing to translate kanji for accuracy, let alone a japanese consultant.

@Kienda Japanese fiction has likewise channeled a myriad of western settings, history and culture with a myriad of twists, tweaks, mishmashes and reimaginings. That's how these these things work. I personally hail from a country that barely shows up on foreign attention radars unless something explodes in it (or launches out of it to explode elsewhere😓), and I've appreciated seeing even Hetalia's amicably hyperbolic take on it. Some others here might not - but this sums up to represent a variety of personal resonance statistics as opposed to an issue of intercultural propriety like the one some ACS detractors try to insinuate.

They should really apologize for the entire game itself and not release it

@Korgon @PuppetMaster

Maybe you’re looking at this from a Western perspective. I’m sure this game will do well in the West. And yes, you will always find a Japanese person who is fine with it.

But trust me when I say there are many Japanese people who are deeply offended by this.

In Japan right now, there is a big discussion over foreigners going to the country and disrespecting Japan and Japanese culture. There are incidents of people desecrating shrines or breaking the law in Japan. And this is blowing up in the news and people are outraged by it. It goes against the culture of Japan which is very respectful and law abiding.

Ubisoft, instead of honouring Japan by giving them their first ever Japanese Samurai, instead has said, “Hey, lets use the only black guy we can find in history that is loosely associated with being a Samurai and insert our Western politics into Japanese culture. The Japanese will love that.”

Now, I’ve seen people saying “this is fiction, it’s not real” on the other hand they’re defending the game by saying, “this black Samurai is a real historic person.”

It doesn’t matter if it’s a work of fiction or that a black Samurai existed (he likely wasn’t Samurai, by the way, even though he was trained). What matters is that the culture being represented is respected.

Ubisoft didn’t put a Chinese person as the main protagonist for AC:Valhalla and they didn’t put a White person as the main protagonist for AC:Origins. They weren’t historically accurate games either. But they did respect the cultures they represented. And Origins, to this day, is still an extremely accurate representation of Alexandria and used for educational purposes.

AC:Shadows however isn’t even accurate on small things like the kanji mentioned in this article. So it’s not just about race, it goes a lot deeper than that. But again, it’s mainly the Japanese being offended. And the rest of the world doesn’t really care.

Black people seeing a black Samurai are likely going to love the game. Samurai are cool no matter what race you are.

Westerners in general will likely not see much wrong with a black Samurai. It’s not their culture after all and they’re used to seeing merging of cultures and modern politics being inserted into everything.

The Japanese, however, are largely seeing this as a massive disrespect to their culture and proud heritage.

@nhSnork

My family is also from a minority background that isn’t represented much in the media. But we don’t feel out of place in the UK as it’s very multicultural.

See my comment above to see why many in Japan are upset (and I’m just scratching the surface really), and why I don’t think it was wise for Ubisoft to do what it did.

The thing is, AC has always straddled the line of fiction and accuracy. And they’re doing that here again. But I think they didn’t take into account the disrespect it would cause to the culture they were trying to honour.

I actually think Western gaming journalism has done a massive disservice to Japan for not covering their feelings in all of this.

It’s being seen through the lens of Western politics and labelling everyone extremists rather than dealing with the sensitivities of Japan.

It’s like Ubisoft is ‘West-washing’ (if I can coin that term) Japanese culture while the Western media are ‘West-washing’ the hurt many Japanese feel about this.

The Japanese voice is not being heard.

@Carck
And that's fine. You don't need to pay full price if your not liking what it has to show.

The hip hop battle theme didn't really bother me personally. Hip hop is a thing in Japan too so I'm not really sure what your getting at there. Have you listened Lotus Juice? He has worked on the soundtrack for lots of anime and games including his most popular work with Atlus and Persona.

Sure hip-hop obviously wasn't a thing in Japan when Shadows is set but then again, AC has a modern day storyline connecting it all together too so that doesn't really feel too out of place to me.

I think it will still sell millions and millions like Odyssey and Valhalla.

And we had Ezio, an italian MC in a game taking place in Constantinople. No one complained.

@Kienda @Carck To come at it from the other side, I think a lot of people are discounting the rigorous research and fact-finding that goes into the setting of every AC game. While the team who is making Shadows is primarily based out of Canada, like every other AC game, they no doubt have historians, including those who are ethnically Japanese, providing robust consultation on how Japan is represented in the game.

This article is making reference to concept art, which is exactly that. It's not necessarily a reflection of the game proper and is only used to convey the general aesthetic; it's a reference point. It's not the type of thing that a historian is going to pour over. They simply don't have that kind of time. There are likely hundreds of pieces of concept art for this game that are spat out by their artists constantly.

If Japanese people (or anyone else) have a problem with one of the two protagonists being an immigrant black person, that's a different story, but there's an argument to be made that, given AC is primarily for Western audiences, having an immigrant being the protagonist allows the player to feel more connected to the character, in that they're discovering Japanese culture at the same time he is. It's a similar trope to the "amnesiac" angle for games.

@Kienda
But again there is a Japanese protagonist in the game, Naoe, and you didn't mention her at all. (Not trying to single you out, just something I've noticed multiple times when discussing this game) That is what I don't understand. It's like people are only paying attention to Yasuke, who like I said is real but they are clearly taking creative liberties with, and just blatantly ignoring the fact that there is a second protagonist that is much more the traditional AC protagonist.

This is also not the first time AC has taken creative liberties with a historical figure. Leonardo DaVinci did not create a Renaissance era battle tank for the most blatant example.

I don't claim to be an expert on Japanese culture but I just think people should hold their horses a bit before calling this a mockery of Japanese culture. We got two trailers and a short demo. I just don't think there is nearly enough evidence to judge it one way or the other.

@Korgon I said “Japanese Samurai” for a reason because there are two characters. A Samurai and a Ninja.

You can be a Japanese Ninja in the game, but not a Japanese Samurai. Hopefully that clears up that point.

AC has always straddled the line of fiction/reality. No one is denying that, but they clearly took it further in this game with a culture that does not have a Western mindset.

And again, you couldn’t be a black Viking or an Asian Bayek in other games. They’ve done it at a time where there is massive cultural sensitivity in Japan about protecting their heritage.

It’s unwise to say the least.

It's the 21st century, we're supposed to be constantly looking for ways to be offended, all the time. You didn't get the memo?

@tangyzesty

This could also be:

“It’s the 21st century, we’re supposed to be constantly inserting Western ideals into other cultures and modern politics into history all the time. You didn’t get the memo?”

@Kienda Oh I touched a nerve, calm down there sport, you'll be okay.

@tangyzesty you didn’t hit a nerve.

I agree with your statement. People do get offended too easily. However, I also wanted to add another perspective to what you said.

Both statements, in my opinion, are true. And there are likely other variations that can be applied.

@PuppetMaster this is the correct opinion. It’s not an historical documentary. Video games are mostly entertainment based on some real timelines or made up ones. Besides East Asian cultures aren’t sensitive like the modern west.

@wildcat_kickz I agree with a lot of what you’re saying. And by the way, I don’t think it is wrong for people to have creative license, but I do think there is an argument for respecting cultures and having sensitivity to current events.

AC games have always been great for helping people have a taste for a place in history. Alexandria in AC:Origins is used by educators because of its historical accuracy. But at the same time it has an element of fantasy, after all, there is magic in the stars and the whole connecting with your ancestors thing.

I have no doubts AC:Shadows will be a great game and Western audiences will love it. Many in Japan will also. But there are definitely a large number of people in Japan not happy with Ubisoft.

But if the whole world loves a game, but the culture it is based upon is largely offended. I think that is a big problem.

I also think it’s wrong for us to tell Japan how they should feel.

@Kienda
But that's because it wouldn't make sense with the story they are telling to have someone that wasn't from the land that the game was set in. Here we have a real person from this era and setting so it makes a bit more sense. If Yasuke was not real and they just put in a random black guy then I could see your point but that's not what is happening here.

As for the Naoe not being a samurai but a shinobi instead...I mean she is in the Assassin Brotherhood. A Shinobi just makes way more sense than if it was a samurai. Yasuke isn't in the Brotherhood so it also makes more sense why he is the more brute force samurai instead. It's a creative choice Ubisoft made. It's fine not to like it but I just don't see how that makes it culturally inappropriate.

@Korgon nothing you’re saying is wrong, but…

Just look at Japanese reactions to this.

I’m literally just defending Japanese people in all this.

Ubisoft got it wrong to the point where it has caused great offence. And too many Westerners are telling the Japanese how to feel.

@Kienda "Maybe you’re looking at this from a Western perspective"

1. I'm an Asian and i see this from Asian perspective. The way i see it, people who made a big fuss about this are mostly non-Japanese with over the top fanaticism for Japan. I bet a big portion of Japanese are just chilling.

"But trust me when I say there are many Japanese people who are deeply offended by this"

2. Don't count opinion from internet especially 2chan and 4chan as the main representative for Japan.

"In Japan right now, there is a big discussion over foreigners going to the country and disrespecting Japan and Japanese culture"

3. I know what Logan Paul, Johnny Somali, and some uncultured China tourist did in Japan. But that doesn't mean every foreigners who visit Japan are like them. The news got overblown mixed with some Japanese who are still xenophobic against non-Japanese.

"Ubisoft, instead of honouring Japan by giving them their first ever Japanese Samurai, instead has said, “Hey, lets use the only black guy we can find in history that is loosely associated with being a Samurai and insert our Western politics into Japanese culture. The Japanese will love that.”

4. I'm pretty sure a Japanese created AFRO SAMURAI manga and many Japanese loves it too. So it's not like Ubisoft doesn't have any based at all to used Yasuke. But what's funny how some people made a fuss about Yasuke as a samurai & one of the protags but there's no big fuss when KT used William Adams, a white guy btw, as the main protags in Nioh 1 lol.

"What matters is that the culture being represented is respected"

5. Naoe is a Japanese which represented Japan and she's playable + one of the main character.

"Ubisoft didn’t put a Chinese person as the main protagonist for AC:Valhalla and they didn’t put a White person as the main protagonist for AC:Origins."

6. Ubisoft already break that rule with AC Revelations. Ezio is an Italian, not a Turks. But he's the protags in AC Revelations which took place in Constantinople or we all know right now as Istanbul, Turkey biggest city. And like i said above, there's Naoe who represented Japan.

"AC:Shadows however isn’t even accurate on small things like the kanji mentioned in this article. So it’s not just about race, it goes a lot deeper than that. But again, it’s mainly the Japanese being offended."

7. FYI. Many Japanese themself can't read Kanji properly hence why they prefer Hiragana or Katakana over Kanji because it's easier to read and understand than Kanji. So it's normal if a foreigner devs like Ubisoft made some mistakes with Kanji. Again, the negativr reaction are overblown.

"Black people seeing a black Samurai are likely going to love the game. Samurai are cool no matter what race you are."

Japanese and non-Japanese loves Afro Samurai. So why you think think only black people will enjoy this game?

@Kienda I also understand what you're saying, but I think this supposed disrespect is not exclusive to AC Shadows, nor is it entirely accurate. I'm sure there are plenty of examples of Egyptians being offended by something in Origins, Greeks being offended by something in Odyssey, Iraqis being offended by something in Mirage, etc. I'm from Boston and found quite a few things about AC3 that were just straight wrong, but enjoyed the game, regardless.

My main issue is that people seem to be painting Ubisoft with a pretty broad brush before the game is even out, cherry picking offense found online. You're always going to see a disproportionate amount of people offended online because being neutral or positive on a subject isn't as strong a driver to add to the conversation as being offended by something. That's just how the internet works.

I'm not telling the Japanese people how to feel about this game, but I also think you may be exaggerating how big a deal this actually is to them, too.

@Kienda
Fair enough. And I'm not trying to tell anyone how they have to feel about it. If it offended someone they are free to feel that way. I'm more just trying to understand where everyone is coming from is all.

@Lup This 🤝. Don't forget no one say anything about Black Flag either which took place in Caribbean and Edward Kenway the MC is a Welsh.

@Vaako007 This. Thank you 🤝🙏

@PuppetMaster

I didn’t say ‘only’ Black people will like this game. I was emphasising how Black people will be extra appreciative of seeing a Black Samurai (and there is nothing wrong with that). I then said Westerners won’t see much of a problem compared to Japanese.

Thanks for implying I’m racist though. 😅

Anyways, you’re Asian? Cool beans, so is my family! But why didn’t you say, “I’m Japanese.” You are not Japanese, right? So are you implying that all Asian cultures are the same and we all look the same? That because you’re Asian you speak on behalf of all Asians? Just because you are not offended does that mean the Japanese cannot have their own feelings?

(See how I can misuse your words also. 😇)

Anyways, I hope you understand I’m just playing above.

I’m likely going to play AC:Shadows at some point and enjoy it. But I am also acutely aware of the sensitivities of Japanese people.

Mainly because I have personal Japanese friends who feel like Western politics is being injected into their culture and then the Western media is calling them racist for not agreeing with it.

They don’t feel anger, they feel hurt. And I’m going to defend them. Sorry.

And about the kanji thing. It's pretty silly no one checked, yeah.

But Red Dead Redemption 1 had the worst Spanish I've ever heard from a videogame and no one complained. Worst as in 'literally makes no sense'.

@PuppetMaster I don't quite understand what you're saying, but there were Welsh pirates. In fact Black Bart was a pretty infamous Welsh pirate that sailed throughout the West Indies. As a person living in the West Indies, I can tell you that, although not perfect, Black Flag did a pretty respectful job representing my country's history during the age of pirates.

@Kienda "Thanks for implying I’m racist though"

1. You brought that to yourself, not me. You're the one who made a big fuss about Ubisoft used Yasuke as one of the protags means disrespect Japanese culture and then mention black people as if they're the only one who will enjoyed playing him.

"Just because you are not offended does that mean the Japanese cannot have their own feelings?"

2. If you understand Japanese have their own feelings then what about the ones who's not offended and even excited about this game??? I gave you proof but it seems you doesn't count their feelings at all and keeps pushing your narrative as if the whole Japan hated this game.

This is more and more like you projected your own personal feelings for this game.

"Mainly because I have personal Japanese friends who feel like Western politics is being injected into their culture and then the Western media is calling them racist for not agreeing with it."

3. This game is a fiction and never promoted as an accurate representation for Japanese culture. So, I'm sorry to say this but if your "personal Japanese friends" got angry / offended just because they see Yasuke as a samurai or protagonist which is NOT the first time (go check Samurai Warriors 5, Nioh 1 & 2, or Yasuke anime) and believe this game as a real representation or even can change Japanese culture then they need to seek help.

@IslandLogic I never says there's no Welsh pirate. But Edward isn't a Caribbean which is the setting for Black Flag and no one complaint about it nor say "The main character should be a Caribbean!". It's the opposite with what happened to Yasuke.

@Lup Or RE 4 took place in Europe, possibly Spain. But the original RE 4 has the Ganados speak Mexican-accented Spanish. They fixed it in the remake where the Ganados speak Castillian-Spanish though.

I might be misinterpreting what you are saying, but most famous pirates that roamed the waters of the Caribbean were of English, French, Dutch, etc. origin, (you can look it up). So why would anyone complain, since Black Flack represented this authentically?

@PuppetMaster

Sorry, but I don’t accept that at all. Nothing I said was racist.

You literally misread what I said, wrongly represented it back to me and then after I explained myself you doubled down with the race card and falsely accusing me of something I never said.

That’s a real shame.

I thought we were just having a civil debate here not resorting to low level tactics to win an argument.

@PuppetMaster You have to get under Japanese skin to understand that disgrace of your country, when someone tries to set game in your homeland and point out absolute minor, half myth character while on the other hand trying to use as much precise surroundings.

Imagine your friend invites you to talk about his trip to different country, but showing you only one picture of toilet and hours he talks about his dumping...

Hello there fellow gamers.
I never saw or heard people complain when Team Ninjas Ni-Oh had Yasuke as a Main Boss character called the Obsidian Samurai, nor the fact that the main protagonist of that game was William Adams , a caucasian british silver haired fellow.
There is also the point that Naoe, the other AC Shadows Protagonist is a Japanese Shinobi and not many people mentioned this. The game does have a Japanese MC.
The fact that both Team Ninja and Ubisoft decided to "make" Yasuke a Samurai probably has to do with the word itself and what it means.
The word Samurai comes from the Japanese verb saburau, which means "to serve and look up to someone."
Yasuke, a former slave in a foreign land both served and look up to Oda Nobunaga, so it makes sense that Yasuke "become" a Samurai to protect, serve and honor is master..... Maybe even by choice this time around.
Just my two cents on the matter.
Myself, has a huge Samurai and Ninja fan, as well as fan of this types of games, I am very much excited to play AC Shadows.
Cheers everyone and happy gaming

@djlard "You have to get under Japanese skin to understand that disgrace of your country, when someone tries to set game in your homeland and point out absolute minor, half myth character while on the other hand trying to use as much precise surroundings."

This Japanese doesn't feel offended at all about Yasuke and even criticized back the negative backlash for the character
https://www.thegamer.com/yoshiki-okamoto-assassins-creed-shadowns-comments/

Or this Japanese created Afro Samurai because his fondness for hip hop and soul music
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takashi_Okazaki

This Japanese studio created anime about Yasuke
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yasuke_(TV_series)

And Yasuke also showed up in Samurai Warriors 5 and Nioh 1 & 2, games made by Japanese studio.

A lot of Japanese understand what historical fiction is and knows about Yasuke. So half myth or not, the way they used him in many entertainment media showed they are not offended. But i'm not sure with Japanese who got offended by a fictional game that never boasted as 100% historical accuracy. Either they're too smart to separate fiction and reality or something else....

@IslandLogic The question you should ask is why some people made a non-existent rule about AC protags must have the same nationality with the background setting. Ubisoft themself doesn't made that rule and they already showed their creative freedom with AC Revelations and Black Flag protagonist. But now some people made a fuss about Yasuke.

@Yagami is it? They just straight race swapped Cleopatra. The real Yasuke was actually black.

As usual, the comment section doesn't disappoint. Worse than a bunch of old church ladies.

@Starkei Similar, but not equal. I think the anger or dissatisfaction people feel stems from the same place however