Assassin's Creed Shadows Hasn't Removed Yasuke, But Dev Focused on Historical Accuracy

Anyone who actually thought Yasuke would be removed for a few month delay have no idea how long and difficult that would take

I think a lot of the hate surrounding Yasuke and their depiction of Japanese culture has been fueled by just straight up racism and hate. There is no excusing a lot that’s been said about that character and I hope more of the gaming audience pushes back against those types of people.
However, even as someone who thinks a lot of the critiques have been overblown I do feel like there was some stuff that was just really evidently awkward. Like genuinely why was there hip hop music playing during Yasuke’s gameplay? If you want to emphasize cultural mixing, do a blend of Japanese music from that era and one of the countless styles of African music from that era. I’m not really invested in how a $70 Ubisoft game turns out, but I hope they do things to turn the conversation around.

Anyone can know it's a buggy mess after seeing that horse floating.....
Companies needs to stop releasing half baked games.....

@anon_pel222 I agree, but when modern games are increasingly complicated with hundreds of characters and systems... Having a floating horse is honestly a win, it could be so much worse. 😅

@Deoxyr1bose Because having a black person = rap music apparently lol

Doubt it’s gonna make the outcry any better.

I got to play as a black dude in Origins and Watchdogs 2. Couldn't they have just made this an Asian setting with an asian cast? It just feels so forced and wokey dokey for the sake of it.

@Gunnerzaurus The Japanese government are literally about to install yet another far right prime minister. Nippon Kaigi have a stranglehold on the Diet and any ‘official positions’ of the Japanese government are mired in ethnosupremacy and bloody war crime denial. If we take all of the Japanese government’s ‘issues’ into account then the Rape of Nanking would disappear into thin air. Point is, Japanese people have a range of views (as previous depictions of Yasuke haven’t generated controversy) and we really shouldn’t point to their government as a representative of the people’s general viewpoint.

It's just a countdown to another failure. They can't save this game from the wrath of the fans at this point. No matter how you feel about the character, there was an agenda. That limits creativity and that is why their games keep getting worse. Just let people make a game and stop giving them a checklist from the top.

From the reported excitement about the thought of removing Yasuke kinda proves that this is about that and that alone.

@Gunnerzaurus the Japanese outrage was minuscule compared to the western uproar. And I also see a lot of “If they made a game about African tribes and made a white lead people would be pissed” as a rebuttal. Likely. But they’ll never make such a game. Why? Because the gaming world always pushes back against Black characters and anything associated with such.

You ever notice almost every historical culture has been the forefront of one game or another? With the exception of ancient Africa, of course. Because publishers know it won’t be received well and the craziness it would fuel.

Everything Black is now considered “woke”. Even a game based off historical Black culture would be deemed as such. Hell, I saw a guy rant about the Bad Boys film franchise being “woke”. It’s had 2 Black leads for 30 years but now it’s “woke”. 🤷🏾‍♂️

These anti-woke obsessives will demand a black character be removed from a game while in the same breath cry censorship when a woman character is given a bra. As commenters have already pointed out, there are issues with how Shadows portrays its subject matter, but the conservation has been irrevocably overwhelmed by culture war nonsense.

@BrettAwesome why did no one complain about white Irish Samurai William in Nioh?

@BrettAwesome Two black protagonists in two games in 8 years. Well black-guy quota meant then? But THREE within 10 years?!!! Three is too many and is "forced durr and wokey durr", or something.

I heard that the game originally start a nameless japanese person, just like the usual assassin creed games, but ubisoft change that for yasuke after the blm stuff because they though it would add additional sales. Ubisoft has no respect for their own games anymore, unlike the earlier assassin creed 😕

Edit: Sigh, what I meant with nameless protag is fictional protag, not protag with literally no name 😕

There was a episode of Mythbusters where they were able to polish a turd. Unfortunately I don't think Ubisoft has the talent/skill to achieve the same results, sorry.

Yeah, anyone who thought they'd actually remove him needs to contact me ASAP I've got some amazing bridges to sell. 😅 Not nearly enough time and on top of that the "modern audience" would tweet so hard that the earth would tremble. I mean just look at the amount of gaslighting. Ubi has laid their bed, all they can do now is to give that bowel movement of a game a good spit-shine and hope for the best.

@wiiware You heard? When was the last time a "usual" Assassin's Creed game had a nameless protagonist?

I will be blunt anyone hating on Yasuke is just doing it because racism. By all accounts he was very very likely a samurai, the slightest bit of reserch will tell you this. If William was fine for Nioh (where Yasuke is a boss and is a samurai) then Yasuke is fine for AC Shadows. Ubi were never going to remove him.

@Gunnerzaurus AC Shadows topped pre-orders over in Japan and Japanese people generally have been defending Yasuke's inclusion, in fact they love Yasuke hence why he's in so much anime and features in a decent amount of Japanese games as a samurai.

@wiiware AC have nameless protags? I guess Ezio, Edward, Bayek, Kassandra, Connor, Basim and many many more don't count then? You even played AC before? Do you even know what AC is? Yasuke isn't even the first black AC protag.

I think It'd be cool to see all Japanese characters in 1579 Feudal Japan. Call me a racist

This is what I think. Developing a game is challenging enough when you have a team pulling in the same direction and an eager audience waiting to play. In today’s environment, there’s the added complexity of navigating the DEI divide, with two polarising ideals vying for influence in entertainment. Regardless of where one stands on this issue, the divide exists and now forms the underlying narrative of many gaming and television titles. While it’s not the only factor – buggy games and rushed releases have also become more common – it is a new and additional dynamic that developers and consumers are still adapting to.

Lmao they aren’t going to remove the protagonists from a mostly finished game no matter how much the “woke/DEI dog whistle” crowd complains. Just skip the game. Isn’t that how the little chant goes?

Most likely they will use the time to work on bug fixes and marketing.

I'm sure they would LIKE to remove the black man, but that would take them a lot of money and at least a year (if not 2).

Ubisoft is just being ignorant with the flag stuff, the Torii gate, the "Yasuke Katana" from One Piece, other cultural inaccuracies etc, whilre claiming they have historical experts working on the game.
And now, after all the criticism about Yasuke, they decided to delay the game to be released right in the middle of Black History Month. It's almost as if they are deliberately trying to sabotage their own product.
I see another delay coming, or another controversy about releasing in Black History Month.

@KeenAerondight
They did make AC: Freedom Cry in the past, which was an excellent game with a black protagonist in the Caribbean setting.
But that was before the woke epidemic and I agree that the Ubisoft of today wouldn't dare to do such a thing.

@ThaBEN I enjoyed Freedom Cry; don't remember much of it. So long ago. Wish they'd remake Black Flag.

@ThaBEN February is the end of the fiscal year for most companies. That’s why February has been stacked for releases these past couple of years. It literally is not that deep.

So a bunch of white guys take the Japanese culture, and among thousands of years of history and thousands of samurai who existed , they chose to depict the allegedly ONE African guy that could have been in Japan in the medieval times. And this is not political. Just pure naivety and coincidence, right? I just see cultural appropriation and racism from the white westerners.

@AhmadSumadi what interesting settings and civilizations does ancient africa have besides egypt and maybe carthage?

The fact that the inclusion of Yasuke is generating non stop screaming about this game is mission accomplished. He's there to flare controversy to push the game up the media ladder. It's the same reason bear sex was in the BG3 trailer.

To the people screening "racism", get over yourselves. Assassin's Creed fans don't object to playing an African. most assassins creed fans will point to the game you play an African (Bayek) as one of their top 3 or 5 AC games and would be all over a sequel. But nobody wants to play an African in the Japanese ac game. Nobody wants to play a Peruvian in the American AC game. Nobody wants to play a German in the Italian AC game. Nobody wants to play a Russian in the British AC game.

@KeenAerondight Err one of the most popular AC games is set in ancient Africa? Dunno why they didn't have a Mayan protagonist though.

@AhmadSumadi
I didn't play that either 🤷‍♀️

I don't understand why people are still complaining about Yasuke. It's a video game, not all of them are historically accurate, and developers are allowed to create games with their own vision. Again if you don't like it, don't play it.
That is the most annoying thing about this generation, it's the same as tv shows, if you don't like it, no one is forcing you to watch it.
I'm actually looking forward to playing this just hope it won't be as bloated as Valhalla.

@Shadcai some people really feel/act like the world revolves -or should revolve- around them.

@Deoxyr1bose nothing at all to do with Yasuke being black, and for you to suggest this is the reason for the outrage is demonstrably false.
It's the inclusion of a black mc just to tick a box.
The OG mc for AC Shadows was an Asian character. A Japanese samurai who was already complete ingame in 2020 - with complete artwork and animation. UBi then replaced him with Yasuke, in their own words: 'due to the socio political movement of that time, which included the George Floyd incident and the BLM movement.
They purposefully replaced an already Japanese mc with a black character just to virtue signal. That's the problem.
Sources:UBisoft internal dev.

@KeenAerondight We had a AC game set in Africa its called AC Origins. Also Yasuke was a very real person who was a very real samurai, the Japanese love him and celebrate him a fair bit.

@jedinite Source? I made it the F up 😂

@DennisReynolds made what up?

@jedinite gotta love confirmation bias.

@jedinite That "source" you mentioned. Sure though let's say they're "accurate". In 2020 there's a good chance Ubi hadn't even fully decided on the lead, that "original" lead was a placeholder something they made to help with game making its really common actually when you're haven't fully decided on story and characters yet. As it is there's zero credible evidence backing this up its just something a certain crowd is latching on to so they can justify the hate. Honestly sounds like the type of BS Asmongold (or how ever you spell it i don't care) or Critical Drinker would make up for their grift.

@AhmadSumadi I did, I thought it was pathetic!! Found it stupid, hated the fact they had William in this depiction and settings. that's why the second one was so much better

@jedinite Go woke go broke? The two biggest films of the year are very woke and one of the biggest selling games this year is Helldivers 2. Last year Baldur's Gate 3 dominated gaming and that's the gayest game ever where everyone is pansexual and just want to f**k each other, in fact Larian had to tone down how horny some of the characters were due to how quick you could bed some of them. The "go woke go broke" BS is false, Th3Birdman done a video completely destroying it not long back as well. Finally how is Outlaws "woke"? Think about your response to that.

@DennisReynolds I would argue that hate is the reason behind race swapping characters in the first place - not inclusion. It's hate under the guise of inclusivity and tolerance.

@KeenAerondight Who was race swapped? Yasuke was a real freaking person 🙄

@DennisReynolds Slow down there with the rolley eyes, smarty. I'm talking about race swapping in general. Also, the other poster is correct about Ubisoft having a Japanese man set as the protagonist before the current one.

@Deoxyr1bose my issue with Yasuke isn’t race related, but gameplay related. He doesn’t need to be there - Mirage put the series back towards its roots, the game should have been about just the female protagonist. The whole Assasins thing tying into Japanese ninja/shinobi or whatever would have been perfect and wouldn’t have raised any eyebrows. But now we have a guy who is essentially a tank in what really should have been a stealth game (look at the new stealth mechanics). Yasuke should have been a side character, and nobody would have batted an eyelid.

@KeenAerondight Race swapping has zero releverence to the discussion so why bring it up 🙄

So much anger in this comment section. Kinda fun reading through everything. Gamers truly are furious people, huh?

@Jebeye I found the tankiness and pure size of Yasuke to be comical as well.

This giant 'outsider' leisurely walking around decimating the smaller Japanese folk looked absolutely silly.

Obviously there’s a whole discussion about how, mysteriously, a game featuring a black character and a woman without side-boob is unpopular in gaming circles, but it’s excellent that they’re taking extra time on this.

They should have kept historical accuracy and cultural awareness key, it’s what makes Assassin’s Creed engaging games. Seems like Ubisoft has been shaken up a bit and is starting to take a step back and get things in order.

@KeenAerondight and i'm not interested in talking about things that don't relate to Ubi or AC Shadows. Also "DEI" yeah the left are starting to drop that term wanna know why? Its now a code word for a very nasty word used by the chuds who want to say that word without actually saying it and so instead say "DEI" in its place.

@LavenderShroud I'm convinced that their anger stems from the limited control they have over their unhappy lives. No one who is content with their life experiences such anger over trivial things like video games.

@KeenAerondight Did that offend you? Interesting that it did.

It's still gonna have floaty Valhalla combat, be overpriced, be a wannabe witcher 3 and just the usual ubislop, the company has been ran into the ground and the games juat aren't worth the price.

They haven't reacted well to backlash, they've lied about the reception of the game and just went about it in the typical failing AAA developer way of bashing the gamers and calling them racists.

These few months won't do anything, they're doing an internal investigation into why they're failing when it's clear as day why, listen to your fans and your game will succeed, ignore/insult them and they'll take their business elsewhere.

Well, it's simple as that. AC is more like historic and civilizations celebration for a lot of people including myself. I really enjoyed AC Origins since I'm from Egypt but I can put myself in a Japanese gamer foot or even just a gamer who's interested in Japanese culture. The chances we see another AC soon in Japan is close to 0. So that's why it's frustrating that the one time we play AC in Japan it's not around a (Japanese) character but more about African character who lived there and have some kind of history.

I can't help but see this as just another DEI issue where it's about pushing specific colors, races or whatever instead of being really inclusive by not leaving behind others.

@DennisReynolds if the rumours are true, and they removed a Japanese samurai as a protagonist to shoehorn Yasuke in, then that is grounds for criticism because the motive is quite clear. Regardless, a samurai with zero stealth skills, be they black, Japanese or white, isn’t a great gameplay choice in a game about sneakily assassinating people.

This site’s comment section is becoming a Twitter microcosm and it’s so sincerely disappointing. Some absolutely fantastic people having to deal with an absurd amount of anti-woke warriors. I’m not sure when this turn happened because it wasn’t like this 3 yrs ago.

Moaning about Yasuke and ignoring the fact that there is a second Japanese protagonist and that Yasuke has been portrayed by Japanese artists multiple times with no issues! There are lots of Japanese people defending his inclusion. Mentioning DEI whenever they can. We’ll end up getting to a point where developers will just stop putting in minority characters for fear of the backlash. There were people complaining about the black space marine in Space Marine 2! We’re cooked as community, and the brainrot has set in.

I must be missing something, isn't yasuke a real black person in Japanese history? So why would that be even racism. AC games have been known to add alot of fictional events inside the history, so it would make more sense that that will be the complaint here.

I think the western audience (a small group) are more vocal about this then the Japanese.

@Jebeye There is literally another Japanese protagonist with stealth skills in the game and on the cover.

@ShadowofSparta yes, so why was this polarising choice really needed when the game would have been everything it needed to be without it? Seems like a crazy decision. I’m talking gameplay here, not race.

The character the main protagonist was based on was never a Samurai, just a sword bearer according to Japanese sources. Which meant during those times carrying gear for a lord. I think Ubisoft became a victim to the author that wrote about this foreigner Samurai as if his material was source material and the truth. And Ubisoft just went with it of course as it supports their narrative. So it’s understandable the backlash against this game. As they didn’t have to go along with it but could have made it with a character from that cultural group. It’s the goal of the Antichrist brigade to normalize and force all cultures into one global culture.
It seems that Ubisoft may not make it out of this generation intact with so many failures as of late. Good thing for the consumers in the gaming industry. As companies will be forced to make good products and stop infusing the “message” into games.

@1UP-HUSKY he was a real person. Just not a samurai according to the Japanese. He was just a sword bearer also according to them from what I gathered. And sword bearer didn’t necessarily mean warrior either. I believe it was a westerner whom relatively recently wrote about this person. And he took artistic liberty to jazz up the real person it seemed, which is where the backlash seems to stem from.

@Jebeye I want evidence for these rumours because so far it seems like "so so said this" with no real source backing it up.

Also Odyssey had you play as Spartan demi-god and Valhalla one of the biggest selling entries had you playing as Odin now reborn as viking warrior but sure a black samurai is out of place for the series.

@Vaako007 He was a retainer meaning he was a samurai. Japan considers him a samurai its why they always depict him as one when they put him in anime, films and games.

@Gunnerzaurus You can defend them, but the reality is their criticism boils down to Yasuke being black. There really isn't a valid critic.
Also, the Japanese government responded saying they don't care, it's a video game and it's fiction. The people who spread this misinformation are the same people you're choosing to defend —why would you spread more misinformation?

@DennisReynolds they could be totally unsubstantiated so that’s fair enough. His colour makes no odds to me, I pre ordered the gold edition and I will do so again when they rerelease it.

Given the game follows on from Mirage, which was infinitely more stealth focused than Valhalla, and given the amount of effort they’ve clearly put into improving the stealth mechanics, it seems a weird design choice to have a character that is the complete antithesis of these things. Especially when the character is so controversial, rightly or wrongly. It seems borderline suicidal.

@DennisReynolds I think there's currently a massive disconnect between Western and Japanese audiences. Some westerners seem to forget or be unaware that Japanese media has Yasuke or some version appear a crap ton. For example, Nagoriyuki from ggst is based on Yasuke and he's one of the most popular characters despite that being his debut. If Japanese creators almost love putting him in games, it feels odd to be mad on their behalf.

@Jebeye Mirage was meant to be DLC for Valhalla and its a direct prequel to Valhalla, its also more of a spin off then a mainline entry. Ubi were also pretty clear early on that Shadows was more on line with the "RPG" trilogy then the classic entries. Anyway AC Shadows has two characters one is an assassin and is way more stealth focused. Think how Syndicate done the Twins, one was a brawler and pretty loud and had his gang while the other was stealth focused and was more committed to being a silent assassin.

@47Levi Afro Samurai was also partly inspired by Yasuke as well. Shadows topped pre-orders in Japan and i wouldn't be shocked if Yasuke is a selling point for them.

@LavenderShroud Everyone getting worked up about a fictional character in a fictional game, but more importantly thinking they have the moral high ground over others ^_^ (on both sides)
Somebody needs their Dramamine...

@naruball bah, they probably just are very engaged people with too much time on their hands ^_^ Not sure, we can judge anyone here, but surely it is sad to see how quickly things can slide nowadays...

@Kalime78 there are so many games to play, so many movies/TV series to watch, so many activities to do, etc, nowadays, that there is no excuse even for people with too much time on their hands to get that upset over a game. When my favourite band released an album which was very different from the rest of their albums (went from pop punk to heavy metal), I listened to it once and (even though I bought it) never again. There was no need to be furious. There were more artists to enjoy.

@BrettAwesome I get why they wanted to move away from a Tenchu/Tsushima/Onimusha backdrop. Yasuke was a historic character whose story has never really been told before. Just like Adelain in liberation I think it a bold artistic choice rather than a box ticking exercise.

@DennisReynolds in fairness I had the same issue with Syndicate, it didn’t seem to fit.

I enjoyed Origins/Odyssey/Valhalla, but they weren’t Assassins Creed games. My frustration is that Japan is the perfect setting for an AC game that’s actually an AC game. Who knows, maybe it will be. I’ll be buying it anyway because I enjoy Ubi games and I’ve wanted an AC set in Japan since forever, but it’s sad to see how difficult they’ve made it for themselves.

@AhmadSumadi the gaming world pushes back on black characters? Nobody had a problem playing a black guy in assassin's creed origins

There are write ups about Yasuke on sites like Way of Bushido and Modern Erudite that go into detail about his life and even mistreatment.
Their ultimate conclusion is that he wasn't a Samurai.

Therefore, when a game that's based on real places/people/events makes him a Samurai, it seems understandable that people would get upset and claim that it's revisionist history.

A black protagonist in a more modern game or in an ancient African setting wouldn't have raised any eyebrows, but when Ubisoft puts one in a game based based in an older Japanese setting and seemingly changes the history of this real person, I think they should have expected controversy.

@Psofo Yes. There are those 2. There’s also Kush. The Mali Empire, lead by Mansa Musa (you’ve probably heard of him). The Zulus are very well known and interesting. 14th century Ethiopia is very interesting. Lead by the Queen of Sheba (You've probably heard of her).

I mean, your response is kinda why they won’t make a game about ancient African tribes. It’ll be either cry woke or anger about venturing into some history you don’t care for and are ignorant of. I swear, some of you only know of Wakanda when it comes to great African history.

@Toot1st no one cared?! You really believe this?! Dude, there was pushback similar to this! Just not as major because crying woke wasn’t a way of life in 2017 like it is today. Google “Assassin’s Creed Origins racism” and see how much “no one cared”.

I'm so sick of the culture warrior nonsense that has gripped this game. I just want to play the game. ☹️

Given that Star Wars Outlaws sold just 1M copies according to some portals, I can see why Shadows got delayed.

Will they fix anything? No, Ubisoft will just wait till the dust settles down. Honestly I would just scratch the whole thing and get a tax discount, worked for Warner and the Batgirl movie.

It's amazing how gaming consistently exposes society's a**eholes.

@Psofo Africa is considered to be the oldest inhabitated continent on earth. So for a AC game it might be very interesting to find a great story there. There are alot of countries in Africa all with there own culture and history, even the Roman empire had a major presence in the past. It shouldn't be to hard to find a great story to tell if they dig really into it.

@DennisReynolds why didn't they hate other non white ac characters then , the outrage is silly it's a video game , from what I've learnt he wasn't a samurai he was given a sword and a house for a year as a bit of a jape by Nobunaga, he wouldn't have been accepted as a samurai I wouldn't have thought, by all accounts he didn't even take part in any battles, I don't understand this obsession with what game characters look like , for the most part you're staring at the back of there heads anyway.

@AhmadSumadi

Why is it the West's responsibility to tell the world's stories?

To believe they would remove a entire character from a massive game like this, is to believe in fairy tales. The game is fully constructed around Yasuke and Naoe.

@Callmegil

I think if Yasuke was Korean for example (still very much a foreigner as far as the Japanese are concerned) then Ubisoft wouldn't have chosen to make this game as is.

So your criticism of "it's because Yasuke is black" is actually something you should accuse Ubisoft of in my opinion.

@freddquadros

Yea there's no chance that will happen, that's silliness.

The damage has already been done

@DennisReynolds not really no. Just because people don’t accept this forced diversity politics doesn’t mean they’re racist. 😂

The game is DOA no matter what they do.

Am I the only one who is just really tired of the generic Ubisoft open world formula? My two cents on the subject, by all means have Yasuke in the game, but as a side character. The safe option would of done a Jin type as the protag.

@freddquadros it isn't but if they're arrogant enough to think they can then they should at least get it right.

@Deoxyr1bose Why African music he is in Japan isn't he? Not every black character needs Hiphop or African Music.

@1UP-HUSKY The Japanese literally complained to the point a JP politician took interest, westerners don't have influence to do that.

The game is a failure before release just like skull and bones and star wars outlaws, the stocks are at their lowest in 5 years after they saw steady growth for 10 , the majority I'd wager have zero interest in the game beyond watching ubisoft stumble around in the "shadows" trying to find any excuse to give their investors on why they've completely and utterly failed them.

The coming fall of Ubisoft is both delicious and deserved.

Not going in on particular details but some at Ubisoft were aggressively stating how accurate their history of Japan was. If it was so accurate why are the flipping the switch now 🤔

@starbuck2212 They are correcting things in the game. You can play I or not, your choice.

I will.

Just to clear up any confusion (reading the posts from @BrettAwesome), AC Origins was set in Africa, but I think Egypt, although geographically part of Africa, is mostly considered part of the Middle East.

Also, the main protagonist of AC Origins, Bayek , is not ethnically African/black but rather ancient Egyptian, who I think are classified as a Semetic group.

Sorry for being that guy, but as someone from Africa who isn't ethnically African myself, it's disingenuous to say AC Origins had an African/black protagonist

@CrashBandicoat I once slammed 70€ on the counter top. First they looked at me strangely, then they yelled at me: "Are you crazy? You think you're online or something? You only pay 60 for physical".

Nah, this title has soured the experience for me even before its release. I'm not gonna bother with this game.

There was never a chance they'd remove Yasuke. People who actually think it's that easy to replace the entirety of a protagonist for such a big game in a matter of a few months are helplessly moronic.

@KillerBoy Then why do we only hear about "forced diversity" (or woke and dei) whenever there's a non-white protagonist? It's thinly veiled racism, and apparently Pushsquare is becoming a cesspool of thinly veiled racists.

The issue for me was never Yasuke's inclusion, it's always been Ubisoft's intent - the climate and context in which this decision was made. This is a company renowned for terrible workplace practices, greedy anti-consumer pushes and statements like "get used to not owning your games". All of this context matters when assessing Ubisoft's intent to include Yasuke. It very much paints a picture not of interesting creative decisions and storytelling but of cynical, disingenuous corporate bandwagon-jumping.

@HamKnight if it's just cynical "bandwagon-jumping" shouldn't they be making gaas games instead? They have nothing to gain from this.

@Paramahansa yup. Same with Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Excellent game that was criticized to death when it was revealed.

The game will be a flop. I actually think in november it had a chance. But now you're going up against way better games like yakuza, and even a behemoth like monster hunter. Good luck selling. They should avoid making their games from propaganda next time. Yasuke story has been told way better through other medias like the anime afro samurai which was inspired by it. But AC shadows intent shows.

It wont matter. This game will tank

@RagnarLothbrok Because typical Ubisoft talking out their ass like everyone says?

@naruball More than one thing can be in the social consciousness at any given time.
And yes, I do think Ubisoft's conduct is cynical bandwagon-jumping. There are already others here who have pointed out the Samurai character was swapped out after events of 2020. This directly speaks to my original point.

@naruball oh, absolutely, not condoning, just trying to understand ^_^ I though Sum41 veering into metal territory was nice; which one are you referring to?

@Kalime78 Order in Decline was a huge disappointment to me, whereas every previous album was ace. Thankfully, Heaven :x: Hell was a good middle ground and unsurprisingly "Landmines" was one of their biggest hits ever.

@HamKnight yes, but you can't be cynical and do something that won't be beneficial to you. There is no guarantee that such a move would lead to more profit. On the contrary, only a few games that have chosen such a direction have been successful.

"There are already others here who have pointed out the Samurai character was swapped out after events of 2020. This directly speaks to my original point."

And what source did these others provide to support their claim? If I make the opposite claim, will you accept it or reject it because you don't like it?

@naruball People don’t source anything anymore we live in an age of misinformation. So much so that the internet is beginning to be so cluttered with AI generated content (with proven inaccuracy and hallucinations) that AI developers are struggling to scrape new content for training.

On a brighter note I like fish out of water stories so I think Yasuke is promising. I don’t like AC so I will pass no matter what.

I just want to know when Sony plan on refunding pre orders.. no news yet.

@Nepp67 It is hellishly long... Yasuke, Ctrl+A, Delete.

I still don't understand that Ubi's aggressive push on black samurai, while they could use one of thousands true samurais?

And the other thing is how Animus can manage DNA of two different personalities in parallel? Is that some kind of schizophrenia like in AC Syndicate?

@mountain_spider AC has always had more that a ‘slight twist.’ There are barely any actually sources on Yasuke. Truth is neither side can prove a definitive version of who he was. The story of a foreigner gaining some respect and power in Japan during this time period is potentially interesting because it would be so unlikely.

Unfortunately Ubisoft and it's Assassins Creed games became a victim of their own success, when it comes to Historical accuracy.
Keep in mid that AC Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla and Mirage, all ended up having Discovery Tour modes.

It may seem like a trivial thing, but it's not...
I mean, a bunch of action-adventure games get to be used in schools, museums and public presentations because they provide the best 3D mediums that can accurately depict their respective eras - that's A LOT !
And it's a high standard that every future AC game will have to live up to!

I don't get why Ubisoft didn't take that into account form the very start of AC Shadows development...
And I'm not talking about the whole Yasuke debacle here, but about the inclusion of expert architects and historians from the very start.
Now as a result, the game gets to miss the holiday season...
Of course there are also other reasons that contributed to the delay.
But not allocating the proper importance to historical accuracy was clearly a bad decision on their part, one that it's best to be remembered for their next AC title...

@IamJT the worst part is that many, if not most, people are happy to believe a claim as long as it confirms their bias. If it doesn't, they're all skeptical.

@Paramahansa

I know what you're doing here with this post and it's very sly.

You are discussion moderation without outwardly mentioning it so that you can not get your post blocked while at the same time try to force this site's moderation into enforcing your belief structure across the commentary by baiting them into thinking that they're allowing racists to thrive here.

It's very impressive what you did with a seemingly short, innocent post, I must say.

Just to be clear, I MYSELF AM NOT DISCUSSING MODERATION.

There is no racism here. None. Just because you say there is doesn't make it so. To accuse people here of holding such views is baseless and wrong.

With all the controversy and exposure this game is getting, it’ll either be the worst selling game in the franchise, or the best. I honestly see it going one way or the other.

@GreatAuk never said that. Don’t know how you even drew that conclusion.

Seeing a lot of the typical thought-policing and shutting down all differing opinions going on here. I could use that same logic and say that everyone who didn't like Forspoken is a racist/misogynist/both.

Also not buying that there's always been pushback against black characters. Barret in FFVII? Nearly the entire cast of GTA San Andreas? Michael LeRoi in Shadow Man?

@DennisReynolds Im just a little confused about one thing. You said the two biggest films of the year are woke. But those are inside out 2 and Deadpool and Wolverine. What exactly is woke about those films?

@naruball this is a great post! It’s exactly what I’ve said to some people. Like, I’ve never claimed Yasuke was a Samurai. But there are so many who will link to stories stating that he wasn’t. But I can link to stories stating that he was. I really don’t know. But folks will always follow links that confirm their biases.

@GreatAuk In what aspect? If you're referring to choosing Yasuke because he's African, yes absolutely. I would agree 100% if Yasuke was the only playable character, but he's not. There's a Japanese character as well that is a traditional assassin. People want to argue they'd prefer to play as a man who's Japanese, but that's not a critic it's a preference. I just don't understand why they have to voice their preference at the same time they voice they don't want to play as a black character.
Listen to these two and tell me if there's a difference: 1) "I want to drive a Ferrari" 2) "I don't want to drive a black dirty Ford, I want a Ferrari"

I know others will disagree, but I like Yasuke being on the game. Black characters are absurdly underrepresented in gaming as a whole, and while I'm not a huge fan of forced inclusivity, I don't think that's what this is. I just wish we lived in a world where some people could like it, and others don't, and they could all just agree to disagree. But I guess people being reasonable might be too much to ask for.

@naruball "but you can't be cynical and do something that won't be beneficial to you"
So you don't think that the inclusion of a black main character in a Japanese setting, that just so happened to occur in the wake of the events of 2020, is not a cynical decision? Where were all of Ubisoft's black main characters before 2020?
You know games take a few years to make, so decisions take time to bear fruit. We are just now beginning to see that these decisions are not all successful as you mentioned in your reply, but back when they were originally made, it's quite obvious that Ubisoft thought this would be a money-making idea. Maybe it still will be for them, but I suspect Shadows will underperform.
Knowing a corporation’s history of conduct is hugely important when assessing their intents. All of the context surrounding Ubi’s decision to include Yasuke as a main character points to disingenuous intent.
If the claim that the character was swapped out turns out to be false, I absolutely accept that, but I have heard it in multiple forums and I weigh that information together with their Thomas Lockley debacle and all of the other blunders they have made on researching this game - and, again, knowing Ubisoft (the entire point of my original post), this is hardly beyond the realms of possibility, is it?
This isn't about what I personally like or dislike, so don't make this personal.

@jrt87 kind of off topic here. But they added Black elves to LOTR and people lost their 💩. You think just because something is fantasy gamers will be OK with these changes? It’s pure speculation here, but if Nioh featured Yasuke, the reaction would be very similar to his inclusion in Assassin's Creed.

Yasuke is based on historical FACT.

@AhmadSumadi Nioh featured Yasuke as a boss
https://nioh.wiki.fextralife.com/Yasuke

@Callmegil

I am saying that Ubisoft perused through all of Japanese history, found one black guy and said, "we finally have our source material!"

Otherwise this game as is would not exist. If they had found one Korean or Chinese guy in Japan named Yasuke, there would be no Ubisoft game being made about Yasuke.

It's just the arrogant West's ransacking through another country's history, finding something that the current western creators find to be something very important to them personally, and designing an entire game around what is a historical anomaly.

If someone made a game about an ancient sub Saharan African kingdom and they made the protagonist about the one instance where a white guy happened to be there I would be annoyed and I would question the creator's motives behind that decision.

You don't agree? Or am I being unreasonable?

@AhmadSumadi because nobody cared about some koei tecmo games that sells less than a million copies

@ButterySmooth30FPS wasn't that a while ago, though? When black characters were just that, black characters, as opposed to "DEI hires"? Same for women, LGBT characters, etc. I firmly believe that, had the movie Alien just come out, it'd have been attacked by a certain crowd.

@HamKnight "All of the context surrounding Ubi’s decision to include Yasuke as a main character points to disingenuous intent."

By "all", you mean the Black Lives Matter movement? That's the entire context? Zero other contributing factors?

How about the percentage of black people who live in France? How about the black employees that work for Ubisoft? Were they being cynical, too?

That's the problem with bias. You see all the points that fit your narrative and ignore all the other possible contributing factors. When I first started reading your reply, I thought "that's actually a good point. At that moment it wasn't clear if focusing on black characters would increase sales; I didn't think about that. HamKnight could actually be right about that". But then you had to make several assertions that undermined your point.

A shame. A real shame.

@naruball times are just what they are now. It kinda sucks. I've been called a "DEI hire" at my job as I'm the only non-white, non-female Bank Manager in my region. Never mind that I started as a Teller 10 years ago and have worked my way up. So yeah, as long as the outlier is a racial/gender/sexual(?) minority it'll always be deemed DEI.

Honestly, who even cares about this game? The real Assassin's Creed Shadows will be Ghost of Yotei.

@GreatAuk You're being very reasonable and in that regard, you're 100% correct, this is likely what happened. Maybe it's because we have different views and see this issue differently — I don't know how you see it, but to me it's just romanticising the idea of "What If..?", stories are told on what ifs, I'd say this is one of them.

The existence of this game is indeed only because Yasuke was black and ended up in Japan. Before arriving in Japan, Yasuke was in India and we don't have a game about that, if Yasuke ended up in the Middle East, we wouldn't have a game about it. If Yasuke never left African, we wouldn't have a game about it either, but it's not because Ubisoft, it just so happens the West romances Japan a lot more than MENA. The only game the West loves about MENA is Call of Duty where you shoot Arabs.

Me personally, no I wouldn't. I love stories, as unlikely as they may be. I would love for them to try, but we'll never see it because it's against correct politics. I'm as black and white as they come, either it's all bad or they're all allowed. If it's ok for a black man in Japan bashing Japanese than it's ok for a white man in Africa bashing Africans.
PS: I survived 2 Human Centipede films, don't ask me to be normal.

@AhmadSumadi sorry to hear that. Hopefully one day we'll move on from this mindset.

@AhmadSumadi very true, I remembered when Forspoken was released and how much hate it got. In my mind that kinda hate wouldn’t have existed if Frey was blonde hair and blue eyed.

@taciturnbloke I didn't hear too much race-based pushback against that. Not to say it doesn't exist. But when I hear things like people were saying they felt less bad about Rue dying in the Hunger Games film because the actress was Black it kinda leaves a bad taste. Like, you see a child get killed and because she's Black you have less sympathy. It's kind of sick. But there are so many examples of this. Sorry to get off topic.

@naruball By “all” of the context I mean “all” of the context that I’ve already spoken about in my previous posts. You are ignoring those in order to make your counter-point. This is arguing in bad faith. It’s not my job to keep reiterating the same points over and over because you choose to ignore them.
And your points about BLM and France’s black population only strengthen my argument. Why did Ubisoft not highlight black main characters and black stories in their games before BLM? Why did it take such a horrible event for them to suddenly care? They’ve had decades of game-development to do this, but they didn’t. If you choose not to interpret this as disingenuous corporate decision-making that that is up to you.
And do not accuse me of bias. I’ve kept my talking points as impersonal as possible. Ubisoft’s terrible track record with staff, with anti-consumer practices, and yes - with jumping on bandwagons only in the wake of a horrible event - are not “fitting my narrative”. These are all real things that have actually happened, and I very much take them into account when judging a company’s conduct.
So again, do not accuse me of bias. You don’t know me.
If you’re going to continue to ignore crucial parts of my responses in order to form bad-faith counter-arguments then there is no point in continuing this. I’ve made my points. You haven’t really engaged with them, but I’m not going to accuse you of being a certain type of person, because I don’t know you, and I’m above that.

@CrashBandicoat "99% of forced diversity is only in one direction, hence 99% of complaints are in one direction."Citation needed. This whole "forced diversity" is a baseless assumption on your part. What "strawman"? Where's the "nuance" in the comment I replied to? They saw a black protagonists and called it "forced diversity".

@GreatAuk It doesn't matter which game it is--Forspoken, AC: Shadows, Banishers, Death Loop, Dustborn, South of Midnight, etc--if there's a black protagonist, its the same vitriolic response. "Woke, DEI, forced diversity". "Go woke go broke". Which is the thinly veiled racists way of saying," too many blacks in my games".

So not baseless at all. If it walks like a racist, quacks like a duck, it's a racist duck.

Looks like Sanada regrets not bringing an umbrella

@RedRiot193 Haha, thanks!

@Deoxyr1bose It never bothered me that Yasuke was the main character I was going to buy the game anyways. Granted it is weird that they want to tell a black story in feudal Japan... The big issue is that Ubisoft is so flippant with their respect of the culture. The half Tori gate is the latest misstep. The Japanese are very protective of their culture. Sucker Punch did it surgically where Ubisoft is wielding it like a cudgel.

@jrt87 I don't know what you're doing here but it seems your naming characters from a time where cry woke wasn't yet a thing, or wasn't as big a thing as it is now. Any of those characters, save for GTA's and 50 Cent, would be deemed "woke" by today's standards. 50 Cent is a rapper and GTA's characters are in a "Black setting". They're where they "belong". Most all the others are outside of acceptable black spaces.

And maybe Dee Jay and Balrog would be OK because they're not main characters per se.

@Gunnerzaurus Nobody complained at the time when Ezio was the protagonist of a game set in the Ottoman Empire during one of the most interesting periods in the history of the Arab world. There was no reason for him to be the protagonist in a game set there, they fit the story around him. Whereas Yasuke has a historical basis for being in Japan and it’s one of the easiest ways to explain why Japan, a country with closed borders, would be introduced to the Assassins. I’d assume that his enslavers will be the Templars, possibly Portuguese Jesuits, as they were attempting to control the Shogunate for trade reasons in reality. There’s a million reasons why Yasuke has been chosen but there is a clear thematic and historical basis for it compared to Ezio being in Istanbul during Revelations.

@DennisReynolds dude, the biggest flops of the year are all "inclusive and diverse" lol Dustborn, Suicide Squad and Concord. Star Wars Outlaws had low sales according to Ubisoft. And let's not forget about the recent flops of Forspoken, Saints Row reboot, etc
The two biggest movies of this year, Deadpool and Inside Out 2, features two white protagonists and a white blond girl respectively.
Hogwarts Legacy, which had a huge controversy from Twitter to make it flop due to Rowling, became a huge seller.

Yeah you're right, woke equals success lmao

Sorry, but you're a bit of a dummy if you think delaying the game for a few months would be enough time for Ubisoft to fully replace a main character in a AAA video game. Are you kidding me?

@Paramahansa In fairness, I feel like mentioning Dustborn isn't really helping your point. The game literally turned cancelling people and getting triggered into in-game mechanics, lol.

Quite a few comments on YouTube videos about this being delayed because isn't February black history month ???

well, the problem began when ubisoft marketed the game as being "historically accurate/based on true events" simply because there is so much controversy and unknowns about the actual events that occured. no matter how you approach it, there are going to be major liberties taken with such an adaptation. as such, ubisoft should have taken a step back and not made those claims.

anyone remember the afro samurai anime/games from 15 years ago? well, nobody seemed to have a problem with that franchise. it featured a black samurai out for revenge. it was treated as fiction and escapism. perhaps people were more open minded back then? ubisoft easily could have gone the same route with its own game but it has pigeonholed itself with the whole "historical accuracy" slant that the creed series is known to have. all videogames that slap such a label should be taken with a big grain of salt.

personally, i couldn't care less about the politics surrounding yasuke. i would play the game knowing damn well not to take it seriously in the first place (if i was a big creed fan that is). who plays creed games looking for histoical accuracy? i don't much care for the creed series as it has long since been run into the ground and exploited as much as any game franchise can be. with ubisoft on the verge of collapse and bankruptcy, it doesn't look like this franchise will be around much longer anyways... or at the least, go on a long hiatus while the company is acquired, restructred, etc. so, for the creed fans out there, instead of complaining, might as well "enjoy" the game for what it is because it might be the last one for a very long time

@Paramahansa I don’t recall anyone complaining about bayek in origins and a lot of people would say it’s in their top 3 assassin creed game. Seems like you’re causing a fuss over nothing.

Why do people defend Ubisoft and AC Shadows? The company is panicking over low critic scores, lower expected sales figures, and a stock price that is about as low as its late 1990s price. Ubi obviously has problems with its high budgets and how the markets sees its value.

Regarding sales of its games, people are voting with their wallets. 800k to 1 million initial unit sales are considered soft. That's well and good if the company has its costs structures well positioned. The Disney licensing and the gargantuan corporate structure can't be helping.

Regarding AC Shadows, the moment I read that a cherry picked foreign non Asian man became "their samurai" and labeled as a "legendary samurai" in marketing materials is the moment I know it's not for me.

"Focus on historical accuracy"

There better be giant crabs in this game...

@KillerBoy Nah, Origins definitely received backlash. I remember it too.

Psh, it's Ubisoft. What historical accuracy would they know.

I bet it's just basically changing logos, war banners and some architectural designs. Nothing about the main protagonist because that would take too long as the game is pretty much finished

@MondayMedley you got a source to back that up

Will relish the day when we can all stand together and admit that Ubisoft is just plain cringe. I find it hard to believe this studio of all studios actually gives a ***** about Yasuke and his history as opposed to they're using him as a tick on their corporate mandated checklist, and as an accessory to deflect criticism the same way Disney does.

Thankfully that hasn't worked out for them so far out of sheer buffoonery on their behalf. I would give the benefit of the doubt of a 'Yasuke game' to any company other than Ubisoft, but these guys I am happy to watch flounder, I'm not even ashamed to admit it.

@LavenderShroud IKR! Me reading through this section:

@AhmadSumadi Everything Black is now considered “woke”.
Not true at all.

You guys know who a publisher might hire to screen for things like the one-legged torii gate? Sweet Baby Inc. People are hilarious.

@ButterySmooth30FPS I was a manager at a Game crazy in VA when San Andreas launched. We had to put up a sign that said "we won't honor returns based on your racism" because so many tried to return the game based on their racism.

Remember a few years ago, when a side of the isle was celebrating cancel culture, while the other side was alerting that the shoe would eventually be on the other foot?

Lesson learned? Not quite, as the same exact thing is now happening with censorship.

@LikelySatan I'm confused why those people would even buy it in the first place.

@AhmadSumadi i am definitely not angry mate , just arguing that the reason that you dont see this setting is because its not particularly interesting or as interesting as other choices and has nothing to do about crying woke etc. The same reason that you wont see any games taking part in ancient Finland or England pre vikings or Germany from 2000 years ago. People want to play stories that they have heard about in school or been exposed to in media in general. Ancient China, Greece, Egypt, Roman empire, Genghis Khan’s Mongolia, the renaissance , mayans, etc.

Personally i wouldnt mind trying any kind of setting, but you cant be blaming the gamers if they dont support something that they are indifferent about.

@ButterySmooth30FPS I'm guessing because they were stupid. Same types that would return a movie to the attached video store if it was captioned. They had to put big yellow stickers on subtitled movies just so that didn't happen as often.

@Art_Vandelay I don't have any social media so a lot of the time I'm behind on the terrible culture war mess, but was there really a "side" celebrating cancel culture? I can think of a few celebrities from the right and the left that were "cancelled" because they were poison to advertisers. I've just always kind of rolled my eyes at it. You become a brand, you get bought and sold.

i don't think they need to change anything if i wanted ghosts i'd play that game . they don't need to be a copy of each other, i want ac:shadows to tell a different story with a different character with the setting in japan. there are clearly many games that take place in japan for those people who want that experience.

@Skyfall that seems like clickbait crap these "youtubers" use....omg shadows has 800 orders only, ubisofts worse game,
Also with most companies these days releasing junk half ready crap these days, are people still pre-ordering ?
No such thing as limited quantities these days...

THERE IS NO HISTORICAL ACCURACY IN AC GAMES!

why is everyone so suddenly brain dead , treating the series like it's the encyclopedia Britannica

@Porco "anyone remember the afro samurai anime/games from 15 years ago? well, nobody seemed to have a problem with that franchise."

Do you think that if Afro Samurai came out in 2024 people wouldn't have a problem with it?

@Buckster666 same thing happened to Larian studios. Last year they went woke with Baldur's Gate 3 and, as we all know they went broke. Right?

@naruball Yeah Order in Decline was average to me, but I think it's only because 13 voices was soooo good ^_^
Anyway, they deserve their retirement after such a long and prolific career ^_^

@LikelySatan SBI or at least co founder of the company might be involved with the game. She (or someone who looks like her) was seen in a staff photo for AC Shadows
https://x.com/EndymionYT/status/1792333747481883122

@Tobiaku really odd someone would be looking for that. Especially to the extent of getting someone's photo and cross referencing. Gross.

@naruball I’d imagine a new Afro Samurai would be fine, as it’s true to its source (an anime). I’m quite looking forward to seeing how they integrate the Yasuke story into a game about sneaky assassins, as it doesn’t seem to fit. It may be a masterclass, it may fall short, but I’ll still be buying.

The DEI accusation doesn’t bother me, but I can see where it’s come from. There have been some glaringly obvious alterations to sources in media to include people of colour over the last few years, like Triss being played by a black lady in the Witcher, and it sticks in some people’s craws because they want parity with the source text.

They should just focus on the Assassin Girl and make this one a side character

@LikelySatan Cancel culture was very much celebrated and one sided for many years. But the tables have been seemingly turning and the same people who were on the previously winning side are now quite upset.

You live long enough, and you realize that the pendulum never fails.

@naruball it's hard to say how people would react to it today. one thing is for certain, though; afro samurai was never marketed as anything more than over the top fictional entertainment. ubisoft shot themselves in the foot by focusing too much on its own idea of "historical accuracy" on a subject that is widely debated and uncertain. afro samurai also had the benefit of appearing long before the culture of "DEI" politics, and as such, would not be subjected to the same level of criticism and skepticism (as to why it exists in the first place).

@Korgon Feel the same about this and Dragon Quest III. Just let me play in peace!!!

Also, the people who thought they were removing Yasuke are morons. That would probably require them starting all over.

@naruball these are 2 different genre of games, so any DEI in Baldurs Gate, though some elements seemed a bit forced, didn't take away from the overall game, hence why people were positive towards. There is nothing positive that Ubisoft have done for Shadow, the marketing was clearly all based around Yasuke as the main character, with Naoe being a supporting character.
Considering that AC fans have been calling for diversity in the series for years to play as great characters in various time periods, but Shadows is clearly forced DEI, and this games will suffer because of it.
Will is sell loads, mostly likely, will it sell as many as Origin, Odyssey or Valhalla? No not a chance.
This is the end for Ubisoft, their entries 2024 as failed to perform, the stock has tanked so low, that investors and shareholders will force the sale on the company to the highest bidder. Bookmark this comment as by summer 2025, ubisoft will be no more

I saw a mention of doing an AC game in ancient Africa so that a black protag would make sense. Forgive my ignorance but what game based in ancient Africa could Ubisoft have even made? I'm not aware of any part of that history.

@Deadp001 Assassin's Creed Origins

I still like the idea of Yasuke as a co-protagonist, as an unbiased and fresh point of view entry into Japanese culture & politics of the time. The Nobunaga period was not a simple time so I think they have their heads in the right place.

@DennisReynolds
The claim that Yasuke was a full blown Samurai is wholly beiunscientific at best. I've looked into multiple sources and it's nowhere near "likely". One dude makes a whole career out of exclaiming that this is a story, named Thomas Lockley.

What puts people off of this game is the audacity of Ubisoft to call it historical. I loved the Yasuke anime, but the new AC is a Far Cry of anything "historical". Hence all the cheap errors they are putting into the game.

That and the sheer amount of laziness in developing and marketing the game makes, in my eyes, the whole endeavor a DOA.
We only have one trailer of it yet, but Ghost of Yotei will likely wipe the floor with AC Shadows.

@Nakatomi_Uk I
If this is real that they delayed it into february BECAUSE it's the US's Black History Month would be outright racist. "Let the black folks save our break-even-point"? I wouldn't put it past Ubisoft to actually order this. This, or their outright out of touch.

It's video game marketing, though, so nothing is without calculation.

@Art_Vandelay I don't know which "side" is currently upset or happy about it or what, and I'll just call that a win for me.

@Paultall I'm trying to understand what this post means. White libs that start up a controversy and then hide behind...someone? Something? I'm about as liberal and white as they come. I work at a shelter and have DEI and trauma informed trainings. It's helped a lot in my work. I'm also a combat veteran and sole breadwinner with a wife and seven kids. One is trans, a few are gay. My wife does lgbtq advocacy while she finishes out her degree. We contain multitudes...
If you think our politics make us spineless, that's a shame. We actually live our values, which is more than I can say for most.

@PerpetualBoredom AC has never been rooted in 100% accuracy because one its a video game and two its about a war between ancient factions battling over objects like the actual Apple of Eden made by God like beings who predate humans and who also created Adam and Eve. Ubi have never claimed the series is a history lesson that depicts everything as it actually happened and no one cared about historical inaccuracies in the series until a black man was involved. Aya never killed Cleo in real life because Aya is fiction and Cleo committed suicide but no one cared did they. George Washington didn't team up with a Native American assassin to win his war also and again no one cared. Pirates like Blackbeard were shown to be ok people rather then the blood thirsty creatures all pirates were. In the French Revolution they didn't all speak with english accents. You get my point?

Look you can think Yasuke wasn't a samurai all you want but all the info we have of him paints him as one and Japan almost always depicts him as one in anime, films and games. We know for a fact he was a retainer and retainers were samurai's.

@ThaBEN yet another person coming around on the idea of a firm like Sweet Baby to screen for these kinds of inaccuracies. Interesting!

@DennisReynolds That is simply not true.
The animes and whatnot about Yasuke are fictionalized works, but Ubisoft depicts it as it actually happened as a matter of fact and marketed it as such (I'm aware AC is way past being historical).
That he was even a retainer is highly doubtful, even simply considering how class worked, especially concerning foreigners ("jesuits") back in that japanese period.

Enjoy the game, no worries whatsoever, but please do not claim that Yasuke is was what Ubisoft, even more so Thomas Lockley, claim he was. Maybe they fell for this grifter, big time. Cheers

@DennisReynolds @Paramahansa What I meant with nameless protag is fictional protag, not user creator nameless protag.

I can’t believe they used real flags, not knowing those family’s still exist and hold their history in high regard.

They should’ve made all the familial names fake and altered any similar looking images as soon as development started.

November to February isn't a long time in development terms, will only give them time to delete things and barely gives them time for polish, especially since they will be off for a good chunk of December. This is more to let the storm calm on the product than anything else I think.

@LikelySatan Considering Ubisoft is on SBI’s list of clients at SBI’s homepage, and the founder of SBI supposedly was on a staff photo for this game, there is a real possibility SBI was onboard and their supposed screening for of inaccuracies failed.

Ubisoft is also supposedly brushing off criticism of the game as toxic gamer talk and told staff to not engage with discussions about Japanese gamers think of the game.
https://thatparkplace.com/ubisoft-developers-reportedly-reveal-company-brushes-off-legitimate-criticism-as-toxic-gamer-talk-and-dei-policies-have-led-to-brain-drain/

@Tobiaku I'd never read an article so obviously written in bad faith. I also wasn't kidding. Projects this huge should probably have some screening from a firm that knows what it is doing, if they want to avoid all of this. I personally don't care who is insulted. But it's coming to light that a lot of people who will support all of the nasty vitriol really like acting insulted. Or they have incredibly thin skin. It's like a need for attention I rarely see. At least a lot of bigots are learning some history and um, architecture? They need attention and a rigorous dedication to the sanctity of architecture. And racism.