Ubisoft doesn't show enough historical accuracy, according to Japanese fans.
Ubisoft
Assassin's Creed Shadows was first criticized for introducing an African protagonist in a Japan-set game, and now players accuse it of cultural disrespect and demand to cancel it.
A petition appeared on the internet, allegedly started by a Japanese player who is sure Ubisoft's upcoming game is full of historical inaccuracies, which indicates racism among the developers. In Shadows, you play either as stealthy shinobi Naoe or samurai Yasuke, who is based on a real historical figure.
According to the petition, now signed by over 36,000 people, Yasuke shown as a respected samurai is the problem worthy of shutting down Assassin's Creed Shadows.
The game is based on Japanese samurai and ignores the fact that samurai were a higher class of warrior class and should have been 'gokenin,' or servants of nobles," it says (via Insider Gaming.) "In fact, the first European to receive the title of samurai, William Adams (Miura Anjin), served Tokugawa Ieyasu as a 250 koku hatamoto. In this history, Ubisoft continues to misunderstand the nature and role of samurai. This is a serious insult to Japanese culture and history, and may also be linked to Asian racism. We call on Ubisoft to immediately cancel the release of “Assassin’s Creed Shadows” and show sincere research and respect for Japanese history and culture."
It seems like plenty of people agree with the sentiment. Interestingly, most of the comments were written in English, which makes me wonder how many Japanese players are actually angry at the developers because of this.
If you feel strongly about it, you can sign the petition too, although I highly doubt it will do anything and cancel Assassin's Creed Shadows, which will be out on November 15.
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