In just a few days, Ubisoft is set to release Assassin’s Creed Shadows, a game that may well be the most divisive, controversial, and outright offensive game over the past decades. But if anyone thought Ubisoft was finished dragging what little remains of its reputation through the mud—especially with the game launching in just three days, they’d be sorely mistaken.
With Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Ubisoft finds itself at a critical crossroads. Following a disastrous 2024 marked by high-profile commercial failures and the looming threat of a Tencent takeover, the company desperately needs a win. However, the anticipation surrounding this title isn’t driven by excitement to play it, rather, many gamers are eager to see its blatant historical revisionism fall flat, taking Ubisoft down with it.
For the first time in the franchise, Assassin’s Creed Shadows introduces a historical figure as a playable protagonist: Yasuke, a Black man whose role in Japan’s history is barely a footnote.
Yet, in line with Ubisoft’s unwavering commitment to DEI-driven narratives, the company has chosen to depict him as a fictional samurai warrior despite the complete lack of historical evidence supporting this claim.
The primary source fueling this myth comes from English-Jewish author Thomas Lockley, who cited his own work as evidence, edited Yasuke’s Wikipedia page to bolster his claims, and positioned himself as an authority on the matter.
In today’s climate, where identity politics supersede historical accuracy, questioning this manufactured samurai lineage is not just dismissed, it’s condemned as racist heresy.
Ubisoft has persistently marketed Assassin’s Creed Shadows as an authentic depiction of feudal Japan, yet the game’s historical accuracy is riddled with glaring missteps. One of the most egregious is the inclusion of destructible Shinto shrines, featured in-game without permission from the families who maintain them, the fact you the player are able to desecrate them could potentially lead to legal consequences for Ubisoft in Japan.
Additionally, the game features blatant anachronisms, such as cherry blossoms blooming alongside watermelons, a fruit that wasn’t introduced to Japan until long after the Sengoku period and is typically harvested in the summer.
And, of course, the elephant in the room, the decision to center a game set in feudal Japan around Yasuke, a Black man maliciously depicted as a samurai, rather than featuring a Japanese lead has sparked widespread outrage.
This blatant disregard for historical and cultural authenticity has led to a massive rejection of the game, with many consumers rightfully accusing Ubisoft of cultural disrespect and racial pandering, all thinly veiled as so-called progressive diversity.
The backlash only intensified over time, especially after past remarks from the game’s senior writer resurfaced, stating, “There are more than enough games with white male protagonists.” Many saw this as confirmation that Yasuke’s inclusion was less about historical authenticity and more about a DEI-driven agenda to reframe a barely documented non-Japanese figure as a samurai for the sake of facilitating ESG criteria for diversity and inclusivity in a game set during 1600’s Japan.
Despite Ubisoft’s adamant claims that its creative decisions are authentic, the company has repeatedly found itself apologizing, whether for stealing logos and artwork, using AI-generated concept art that plagiarized Japanese historical artifacts, or other missteps, such as presenting a replica sword from One Piece as Yasuke’s real sword.
Adding fuel to the fire, Ubisoft even produced a themed figure of the game’s dual protagonists, complete with a half-destroyed torii gate, a symbolic blunder that can only be rationalized as sheer racial hatred.
A torii gate is a sacred structure marking the entrance to a Shinto shrine, symbolizing the boundary between the everyday world and the sacred realm of the kami (gods or spirits in Shinto). There is little doubt that Ubisoft’s decision to depict a half-destroyed torii gate was intentional and done with disregard, if not outright malice.
Despite the company’s repeated claims of hiring “consultants” to ensure authenticity in representing Japanese culture and history, this decision makes it abundantly clear that such efforts were either superficial or deliberately prejudiced.
The only real-world “half” torii stands as a solemn reminder of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, having been partially destroyed in the blast. To the Japanese, the depiction of a desecrated torii gate is deeply sacrilegious, making its inclusion in official merchandise not only offensive but inexcusable for a game that jerks itself off regarding historical authenticity.
And now with the launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows finally drawing near, Ubisoft has another ace up their sleeve: During a recent interview with French outlet BFMTV, an anonymous Ubisoft employee revealed the company’s defensive strategy ahead of Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ release.
That strategy involves an “anti-online harassment plan.” A dedicated team is reportedly on standby, monitoring Twitter, YouTube, and Reddit for what Ubisoft deems “targeted attacks,” prepared to provide psychological and legal support to employees. Developers have allegedly been advised to hide their Ubisoft affiliation on social media, not just to avoid harassment, but also to evade accountability for the game’s never-ending controversies.
Given that Ubisoft themselves have proudly admitted that nearly half of those working on Assassin’s Creed Shadows had no prior experience developing a game before, making this their first project in the industry, the game’s overall quality seems to align perfectly with its tone-deaf and offensive depiction of feudal Japan.
Most concerning, however, is the claim that “lawyers are already prepared to file complaints in the event of confirmed harassment situations.” The vague wording has raised fears that Ubisoft may not only pursue legal action against actual cases of abuse, which any reasonable person would condemn but specifically use it as a shield against legitimate criticism of Shadows’ tone-deaf development and its blatant disregard for Japanese history and culture.
This is quite similar to the actions taken by Square Enix following the disastrous release of Final Fantasy XIV’s Dawntrail expansion, featuring the arrogant, Mary Sue protagonist Wuk Lamat, whose portrayal in English was made even more unbearable by the poor voice acting of Sena Bryer, a “trans woman,” the situation with Ubisoft suggests a pattern of companies using defensive tactics to deflect criticism rather than addressing the actual concerns of their audiences.
With Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the stakes couldn’t be higher for Ubisoft. After studio closures, the layoffs of more than 185 workers, and flops like Star Wars Outlaws and XDefiant, 2024 saw the company admit it had “lost touch with players.”
Shadows was meant to be their redemption arc, fans have been yearning for an Assassin’s Creed set in Asia since the beginning, this was meant to be their “break glass” project now ultimately serves as their coffin, with the release of Shadows likely marking the companies funeral.
Delays, first pushing the release from November 2024 to an ill-fated February slot during Black History Month, and then to March 20, coinciding awkwardly with the anniversary of the Tokyo subway sarin attack only deepened the irreversible chaos stemming entirely from its decision to use a historically insignificant figure as a scapegoat to push diversity and inclusivity where it does not belong.
This combined with leaks and the fact that Ubisoft canceled their Tokyo Game Show plans likely due to the fact that their demo presentation would’ve allowed the opportunity for Japanese audiences to desecrate temples and shrines have further eroded trust, while an indie developer’s mocking “Yasuke Simulator” threatens to steal the spotlight on launch day.
What Ubisoft considers “harassment” remains speculative and unclear, I, for one, would welcome it if Ubisoft’s lawyers kicked down my door with a cease and desist, especially considering how extensively I’ve covered the game in question. However, given the resounding and volatile reception the game has received since its announcement, it’s reasonable to assume that the company will do everything in its power to silence dissent and outrage over the game’s ideologically driven development.
This includes the involvement of Sachi Schmidt-Hori, an assistant professor of Japanese literature at Dartmouth College, who has served as a historical consultant for Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Schmidt-Hori is also known for authoring books featuring homosexual relationships between priests and adolescent boys, a controversial background that adds fuel to the fire for critics of the game’s development.
The claims made by the BFMTV source remain officially unconfirmed, much like the alleged desire by Ubisoft and their wishes for Valve to remove third-party access to data like player counts for games, likely due to the disastrous underperformance of their own AAA titles on the platform.
Nonetheless, the precedent is troubling. When Ubisoft apologized to Japanese players last year, certain gaming journalists framed it as Japan being “violent racists,” suggesting a troubling pattern of deflecting criticism with victimhood because it revolves around people of color. Now, with lawyers reportedly on standby, there’s growing concern that Ubisoft could label negative reviews, especially those that criticizing the game’s racial framing or historical inaccuracies as defamatory, potentially removing them from platforms.
This isn’t about protecting employees from threats; it’s about shielding a failing company from accountability for a game that prioritizes ideology over authenticity.
As Assassin’s Creed: Shadows nears its release in an already hostile market, Ubisoft’s fortress mentality, relying on legal threats to silence dissent and offering silence in place of substance speaks volumes. Once known for creating bold historical epics, the company now clings to a narrative of its own making, where dissent is labeled harassment and history is malleable, one thing is certain: the internet won’t stay silent, and neither will the gamers they have alienated when Assassin’s Creed Shadows launches on March 20th.
