Japan wants to cancel new Assassin's Creed

Since the first Announcing Assassin's Creed Shadows Fans are looking forward to exploring feudal Japan as an assassin. After the Unveiling the first cinematic trailer However, the first critical voices regarding a supposed online requirement of the single-player title.

Until Release on November 15, 2024 The Ubisoft team still has a little time to put the finishing touches on the game and win over players with new insights. However, we already know that the world to be explored will once again be of considerable sizeSo Ubisoft remains true to its trademark of huge open worlds, but not to its reputation of being historically accurate, and that is exactly what is causing trouble now.

Petition wants to stop the release of Assassin's Creed Shadows

It was already clear from the YouTube comments on the cinematic trailer that some of the players do not have a good opinion of Ubisoft's interpretation and handling of Japanese history and culture, and some even perceive it as disrespectful and racist. A similar picture emerged in the reactions of the Japanese X-users.

Now on change.org a petition appeared that the release of Assassin's Creed Shadows (buy now ) Currently, the petition has already been 55,000 signatures (as of July 5, 2024). The statement accompanying the petition states:

“[…] The game focuses on Japanese samurai, ignoring the fact that samurai are the upper echelon of the samurai class and “gokenin” are meant to be servants of nobles. In fact, William Adams (Anjin Miura), the first European to be given the title of samurai, served Tokugawa Ieyasu as a hatamoto with a 250 koku command. Throughout this story, Ubisoft continues to misunderstand the true nature and role of the samurai. This is a serious insult to Japanese culture and history and can also be associated with Asian racism.[…]”

Furthermore, Ubisoft is asked to cancel the release of Assassin's Creed Shadows and first conduct serious research into Japanese history and culture and show respect.

Is Assassin's Creed Shadows racist?

The fact that the petition has collected so many signatures in just two weeks could be seen as a clear sign that Ubisoft has made a huge misstep. However, if you take a closer look at the strongest supporters of the petition, it quickly becomes clear that these are not Japanese gamers who want to protect their culture.

Some comments from supporters also clearly show that many of those who signed are not concerned with respect for Japanese culture, but rather with venting their own hatred.

Source: change.org



There are certainly also honest supporters of the petition who dislike the portrayal of Japanese culture in Assassin's Creed Shadows.

However, Ubisoft is not obliged to be historically accurate in its depictions, as this is still a fictional work despite being based on real events. We will remain excited to see what happens next with Assassin's Creed Shadows before its release in November.