Ubisoft has issued a lengthy statement regarding Assassin’s Creed: Shadow, in which it apologizes for some elements of the game’s promotional materials that “caused concern to the Japanese community” and reminds people that Assassin’s Creed games are designed to make creative use of history.
You can read the full statement in the tweet below — it was released via the official Assassin’s Creed account and attributed to the Shadows development team. If you’re wondering if this is yet another chapter in the bullshit-filled discussion about whether Yasuke is actually a samurai in real life, which has suddenly become a very important question for many white males who have taken a jiu-jitsu class and now consider themselves experts on Japanese culture because he’s revealed to be the protagonist of Shadows, the answer is — at least partially — yes.
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First, Ubisoft reminds those who think that if you somehow resurrected Blackbeard he’d tell you how much fun it is to play with Edward Kenway that, like all Assassin’s Creed games, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is designed “first and foremost” to be a “fun video game” that “tells a fascinating historical fiction set in feudal Japan.”
So, your plans to submit this as a paper for your history class at university are ruined, these idiots only like to complain about Yasuke. Before we get to him, though, Ubisoft’s statement does acknowledge this and apologize for “some elements of the game.” [its] The report said the “propaganda materials” had caused “concerns in Japanese society.” But it did not specify what those contents were.
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“All gameplay footage shown so far is a work in progress and the game will continue to improve until release,” Ubisoft continued, “Based on the constructive criticism we’ve received, we’ll continue to work on it until we get this game into your hands – and beyond.” It also asked people to refrain from criticizing those working on the game internally and externally.
OK, now for Yasuke. Almost an entire slide in the announcement is dedicated to his depiction as a samurai, with Ubisoft admitting that this is “a matter for debate and discussion”, and stating that he was chosen because his “unique and interesting life” made him a suitable protagonist for an AC game set in feudal Japan. It’s worth noting that several historians, such as Yu Hirayama, have stated that the historical evidence they referenced suggests that Yasuke was a samurai.
So, there you have it. If you want, you can go revisit AC Shadows’ debut right now and reminisce about a time when people didn’t need to be reminded that it was actually a video game.
