Assassin's Creed Shadows is seemingly off to a decent start, as Ubisoft has now claimed that more than 1 million people have played their latest AAA release. While they haven't clarified how many sales they've had compared to how many people are trying out the game via a Ubisoft+ subscription, the current Steam player count alone is painting a less than flattering picture for Ubisoft and their investors.
What makes the situation even more perilous for Ubisoft has been the year-long conflict between Ubisoft, Western gamers, and now Japan's parliament. where just recently Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has stated that acts of vandalism to Shinto shrines in Japan by tourists who may take inspiration from AC Shadows destruction of these sacred shrines will not be tolerated.
Another issue for the release of this game in Japan has been the level of gore and brutality in the game, particularly scenes showing the "African Samurai" Yasuke dismembering and decapitating Japanese combatants in brutal fashion. While most Western gamers likely have little to no issue with this level of violence in games, it has left many Japanese people questioning Ubisoft's motives behind this depiction of Yasuke as a pseudo-savior of Japan.
Now reports have come out from gaming outlet Saudi Gamer that relationships between Yasuke and Naoe (the series dual protagonists) and other NPCs will be disabled in the Middle Eastern version of the game, likely due to the large amount of gay and bisexual romance options available.
On March 20th, Saudi Gamer posted on X:
"Recently, videos of the global version of Assassin's Creed Shadows have been circulating, showing 'social agendas' being introduced by Ubisoft in the game. The Middle East version is always edited of anything that doesn't fit Arab customs/culture."
"Options for romantic relationships of this type are disabled in the Middle East version. Therefore, we advise you to purchase the Arabic version if you intend to try the game. This is to avoid any scenes that are not appropriate for our culture."
While this is fairly typical for game releases in the Middle East, Ubisoft has also implemented a "canon mode" in Assassin's Creed Shadows. This has been marketed as the "true way of playing the game," as it eliminates player relationship options and follows a predetermined storyline. Some people have praised this option, while others have rightly pointed out that removing options from an RPG defeats the very purpose of playing an RPG.
While Ubisoft is trying to spin this as an added feature, it seems this could just be their way to avoid another controversy where they have seemingly allowed their game to be censored for a Middle Eastern audience that is less than keen on seeing gay, bisexual or non-binary characters in video games.
Either way, it remains to be seen as to whether or not this game will indeed be a financial success. Ubisoft has been perched on the edge of a proverbial knife for months, with Chinese owned Tencent vying to become a larger shareholder of the company that, for now, remains owned and operated by the Guillemot family.