Ubisoft is addressing recoil it ’s receive from players about one ofAssassin ’s Creed Shadows ‘ main persona with a lengthy statement concern how it address history .

The studioreleased the statement on X ( formerly Twitter)and on itswebsite , saying that it ’s received literary criticism from a lot of areas , including Nipponese player who tear down accusations at the developer for skewing history with Yasuke , a legendary African samurai who ’s one of the game’stwo main playable characters , the other being the Japanese shinobi Naoe . In response , Ubisoft stated that its Assassin ’s Creed games are in the first place historical fiction made with the avail of historians , other expert , and in - depth inquiry .

“ Our intention has never been to face any of our Assassin ’s Creed game , includingAssassin ’s Creed Shadows , as factual agency of chronicle , or historical characters , ” the statement reads . “ Instead , we aim to spark curiosity and encourage player to search and learn more about the historical stage setting we get inspire by … Despite these sustained endeavor , we recognize that some element in our promotional materials have get concern within the Japanese residential district . For this , we sincerely yours rationalize . ”

It also throw off a hint about what to ask from the secret plan , pester that the mystery surrounding Yasuke ’s actual life is a part of the level . “ While Yasuke is draw as a samurai inAssassin ’s Creed Shadows , we recognise that this is a matter of argument and discussion . We have woven this carefully into our narration and with our other lead character , the Nipponese shinobi Naoe , who is equally important in the game . ”

The Assassin's Creed Shadows team has a message for our Japanese community.pic.twitter.com/AIyWNU9YhG

& mdash ; Assassin's Creed ( @assassinscreed)July 23 , 2024

Ubisoft ’s sometimes loose interpretation of historic events is being call into question in sexual relation to Yasuke . While there is n’t a lot of documentation about Yasuke ’s life — admit some basics like whether he was a samurai at all — we know that he live and worked for Oda Nobunaga . In the officialAssassin ’s Creed Shadowsannouncement , Ubisoft wrote that Yasuke was a “ real - lifetime historical samurai , ” and that it ’s the first time the company has gone with a real - domain fig as an Assassin ’s Creed champion .

Similarly , in an interview withXbox Wire , game director Charles Benoit enounce , “ Assassin ’s Creed is well known for its depiction of the account and accurate recreation of the world and it ’s what actor can expect withAssassin ’s Creed Shadows . ”

This is n’t the first fourth dimension , however , that Ubisoft has made a item about its work being fiction . It initiate each Assassin ’s Creed game with a disavowal that say they ’re workplace of fable “ inspired by diachronic events and characters . ” The world it ’s build on is fulfill with magic and mythology — it ’s not just elusive about how it uses actual history .

Backlash has n’t just been coming from Nipponese players ; it ’s landed in the center of a westerly culture war . X owner Elon Musk shoot to his platform to post that “ DEI kills art , ” after theShadowsannouncement . Series vice president executive producerMarc - Alexis Côté told Gamefile(as reported on by other outlet likeGamesRadar ) that he was proceed to respond , but took a stone’s throw back .

“ For me , Elon , it ’s distressing , he ’s just flow hatred . I had a lot of three watchword response that arrive to mind , ” he say .