Ubisoft is currently embroiled in a global controversy over their decision to use a loosely historically based character as the protagonist in their upcoming title, Assassin's Creed Shadows. Despite being set in Feudal Japan, the game features the "first black Samurai" Yasuke as one of the two playable characters. This, among several other wild inaccuracies in both architecture and language used in the game, has placed this title in the crosshairs of gamers worldwide.
Japanese gamers went so far as to create a petition on Change.org, calling for the game to be cancelled. While it seems far-fetched that Ubisoft would even consider cancelling a title that's cost hundreds of millions of dollars after years of development, this has helped to increase the pressure being placed on Ubisoft for their blatant lack of respect for Japanese culture and history.
As we have pointed out in numerous videos and articles covering the topic, the historical relevance of the character of Yasuke has been greatly exaggerated, in part due to a book that was written by author Thomas Lockley. Lockley, who based much of his work on suspiciously edited Wikipedia entries, has now begun locking down his social media accounts and claims to have no association with or any intention to play Assassin's Creed Shadows.
Insane! Thomas Lockey, responsible for Japan's major deception about Yasuke, was caught editing Wikipedia since 2015. He has since quit social media and claimed he will never play AC Shadows. Portrayed as a hero by the media, he's now seen as Japan's biggest historical scammer!🤯 pic.twitter.com/JCCTgW7BPr
— LearningTheLaw (@Mangalawyer) July 13, 2024
The negative backlash and mass scrutiny that has been placed on Ubisoft's latest AC title has even garnered the attention of Japanese politicians. Senator Hamada Satoshi has suggested the possibility that he will bring the issue before the National Diet (the national legislature of Japan), due to the possibility of AI being used to inaccurately depict much of Japan's culture and heritage.
Senator Hamada Satoshi had already collected the evidence of Ubisoft using Gen AI to steal copyright works in Japan and make Japan's history distortion to present in the House of Councillors aka. National Diet pic.twitter.com/9n379y9ZvO
— Imperium Mon-Keigh (@Imperium_No_112) July 13, 2024
Things have now gotten so much worse for Ubisoft, as an Assassin's Creed Shadows expo in Paris was exposed for trying to pass off a katana from the anime and manga series One Piece as the katana of Yasuke. The red and gold katana that is shown in the post below clearly resembles the Sandai Kitetsu, one of the weapons that belongs to Roronoa Zoro.
Holy Crap!
— Grummz (@Grummz) July 13, 2024
@Ubisoft ripped off One Piece, gives fake-samurai Yasuke Roronoa Zoro's katana at Japan Expo.
That's going to piss of even more Japanese.
I'm getting sent a FLOOD of references for what Assassin's Creed Shadows has ripped off from Japanese artist. But this is the… pic.twitter.com/FpCjMUYoKg
Even those who don't watch anime or read manga are aware of the incredible cultural significance that One Piece has for the Japanese people. This, as well as them purchasing both a generic weapon stand and Geisha figurine from Amazon for their display, has sparked an intensified wave of backlash online.
Western and Japanese gamers alike are furious over the perceived lack of care that Ubisoft has put into their portrayal of a significant historical time period for Japan, despite their obviously false claims that they value historical accuracy in their games. This situation continues to get worse by the day for Ubisoft, and they have only themselves to blame.