Ubisoft Addresses Assassin’s Creed Controversy - Kinda Funny Games Daily 07.23.24

[@Wimmle]

Some shocking takes in this show KFG really need to be a lot more unbiased if they're going to talk about controversies in the industry the way they just dismissed the legitimate complaints coming out Japan was ridiculous.

[@nihren2406]

I feel like the Shadows segment ignored the target of Ubisoft's apology. As Greg did note, the apology itself is targeted specifically at Japan. The whole thing was originally written in Japanese and then translated to English. The apology was not aimed at bigots in the western world. It was aimed at Japanese players who are upset at Yasuke being a protagonist specifically as well as being called a Samurai, which is a matter of debate among Japanese historians(and one discredited author.) and even members of the Japanese government have taken note and are investigating the game. No one there is saying Yasuke shouldn't be in the game, more that they would have preferred that Ubisoft give the Japanese people their due in a game based on their own history. Like sure they have Naoe, but they also want the other protagonist to also be Japanese. Because you look at previous Assassin's Creed games and all the available protagonists have been natives of their respective settings or close to native, Yasuke is a foreigner who was adopted into the culture but he was in the country for only 4 years and a Paige at the least for Nobunaga for only a single year out of that time. He's not a native and thus goes against the grain of what they've done before. Yasuke can be an important side character you interact with as he would be around Oda Nobunaga who would be an important figure at this time. But that's only one thing, in addition the to the flag controversy which Ubisoft apologized for but also said they couldn't remove it so it leads into a bigger rights issue(This is also specifically in a concept art book, the flag is not actually in the game.), but there were some other things I saw where they used a specific lantern design from a temple and they weren't happy about that, and they also used Chinese style buildings instead of Japanese in places and to the Japanese that's a huge issue and is equivalent to saying all Asian buildings look the same. Some people also took issue with Yasuke having Japanese-style Hip Hop music, which some see as being stereotypical or even racist, though admittedly I'm not sure how widespread that sentiment is among the JP playerbase and how many actual black folks take any kind of issue with that or think it's neat. I'd actually like to hear opinions on that honestly.

[@pillionaire07]

This is a good point. Living in our bubbles, it's hard to look at this from the point of Japanese people. The issue is that there ARE bigots and people who just hate it because it's black, but if you come back a little from that ledge, you find arguments like the one you're observing.

[@Deloreon]

I'd say, as a black dude, the music cues might be corny at worst but I think it can go either way. It feels like there's no right answer to "should this black character be playable?" I think it comes down to the execution. Is the story, acting and gameplay all working together and GOOD? Can't just be a big intimidating black dude. His story REALLY has to matter as equally as the other protagonist. I can't speak to the flag issue.

[@AdelaideBen1]

There's something offensively bigoted hearing Blessing and Tim say that "well.... there's at least one Japanese playable character".... If this were a game set in an African-American community, how would the reaction be... that those people should just STFU and be grateful they got one playable character. That's an exaggeration, but the point is - it comes across as incredibly racist to my ears (having lived in Japan, married a Japanese) to hear this sort of justification for why it's perfectly reasonable to have non-Japanese protagonists in a Japanese-based game. Because it's not THEIR culture, and not THEIR fight. So.... apparently, representation is good for only 1 playable character. Noted.

[@Caelc15]

this is what gets me, everyone is focusing on the main character but there is much more too it, but people wont talk about all that other stuff because then their argument completely falls apart. this is basically western companies doing historical revision and that is just wrong, no matter who its targeting. and they always use the same argument but but some of the people werent actually Japanese when they say they were, and yet they ignore all the actual Japanese people. They ignore the Japanese youtubers who talk about it in detail and what is going on in their country. Why, again, it destroys their argument.

[@Caelc15]

@@pillionaire07 and what does it say about those people that use their western values to judge other cultures and tell them how they should feel about something.

[@adamaa39]

Assassin's Creed Japan with a black hero makes as much sense as Assassin's Creed Nigeria with a white hero.

[@Caelc15]

and do you think all those people that are saying "its just a game" would be saying that, if what you described happens? so sick of the hypocrisy

[@samikhalifa6021]

@@Caelc15 ya its happened bud. Resident Evil 5, Tarzan 64, Star Wars, Tomb Raider, Indiana Jones, Metal Gear Solid 5 and more. These are all White ppl in Africa as the main hero of the game. You’re just too desensitized or you’re too bigoted to look at the whole picture

[@zackmarshall3060]

You guys always crying about the so called far right lmao never heard you say far left once.

[@julio1148]

To my knowledge, Japan was upset that (the now taken down) promotion material said the game was accurate, and that you could learn Japan’s history through it. Ubisoft has been trying hard to walk back the statements and damage control. This is what invited scrutiny (from japan) and I’ve seen quite a few videos from japanese content creators picking it apart. The consensus is that they should’ve said it’s fantasy from the beginning, which is what they’re trying to do now, but they’ve also been kind of gaslighting them saying that they never said it was supposed to be taken as historically accurate BY THE WAY: government officials from Japan were also quite upset. This is perhaps the actual reason behind the apology letter

[@biglawdude]

I'm apparently a bigot and too far gone because I want an Asian male representation in a Asian AC game. Asian males are one of the most under-represented demographic in Western media while black males and Asian females are two of the most represented groups. I've played through 10+ AC games with their fictional representations of their culture (Ezio in Italy, Connor in America, Kassandra in Greece), but I'm supposed to just pretend that this sudden change in representation doesn't rub me the wrong way , and that I"m even a bigot for thinking this. Ubisoft issued an apology for this, and y'all say they're wrong to even address this and then attack us and lump us in with racists and told to grow up.

[@wyrmslayer1991]

Why is Kassandra okay in Odyssey but Naoe doesn’t count as an Asian represented protagonist? You have an Asian represented protagonist. You should do some self reflection on why this situation is really causing you so much angst. Your issues are purely either sexist or racist. Most likely both.

[@AndrewB2189]

Now you’re making up stories in your head. They’re not apologizing for making Yasuke a main character. They apologized for the wrong flag and they’re acknowledging there is some debate about whether or not the historical person Yasuke was actually a samurai or not

[@Tee_youyou]

I think your point of view is fair enough and justified. I think we’re all wanting representation and to see our stories told with respect. I think both the main characters look cool but I can absolutely understand how feel. It seems the issue isn’t related to whether or not the game is historically accurate and therefore what race the main characters should or shouldn’t be, but that the game is defying expectations of a culturally significant genre and isn’t necessarily explaining or justifying their choices. When those choices are around race (and in this case, it appears to be a single isolated choice) it can be much more personal to people, not to mention sensitive. I can see how people perceive Ubisoft’s choice as tone-deaf.

[@dekamaster100]

@@wyrmslayer1991you’re exactly proving his point without actually presenting a good argument. In other, screw Asian men eh?

[@wyrmslayer1991]

@@dekamaster100 Plenty of games with Asian men as protagonists. More than there are with Asian women as protagonists. Why is an Asian protagonist irrelevant to you when they are a woman?

[@JimmyTung-xc3tz]

The community note on the post pretty much countered your "this game doesn't go for historical accuracy" argument. I know you all have friends in the industry but this just comes across as ignorant and arrogant. You completely dismissed how other cultures react to this with a wave of hand of "I don't speak Japanese and there's a lot of white racist in those comments". Maybe do a little bit of research? Or god forbid, talk to an actual Asian person who can speak English to help with research. Or is talking to a real Asian people beneath you?

[@NowakP]

The reason the AC controversy blew up in Japan is because the depiction of Yasuke is based on a "true story" book by Tom Lockley who literally made that shit up. The guy created wiki pages on an alternate account to support his claims, but while Yasuke did _exist,_ the contents of the book are pure speculation presented as fact. That's why the Japanese are unhappy. This is on top of the fact that the merch used for JPN collection version of the game is incorrect or reused and that the game is generally culturally tone-deaf, as opposed to Ghost Of Tsushima for example.

[@daniellee-poy3371]

Would love for Blessing to have some sort of video coverage during EVO since there were plenty of demos (MvC collection, Fatal Furry) announcements or interviews with players/personalities (i.e Maximilian Dood, Justin Wong, Yipes, etc). The channel and audience are more into the wider/mainstream gaming news but as someone in the FGC it would be much appreciated and/or could be something new and fresh for the more casual out there.

[@chancecarter5503]

The gaslighting is crazy

[@infinitysynthesis]

None of the other Assassin's Creed games were ever 'factual' but rather used history as a basis for the game and continued from there. We know why this one has stirred controversy. Here before the usual crowd tells me otherwise.

[@realrobrose]

They all stir controversy. Its just a matter how hard they react to it and how much its reported on.

[@byte-bg4ob]

​@@realrobrose That means you can't make games anymore?

[@realrobrose]

@@byte-bg4ob l can't even imagine how your brain works to come to that conclusion

[@Caelc15]

so are you saying Japanese people have no right to speak up for their culture? is that what you are saying, or are you saying how Japanese people should feel about this? Do you know how racists that is?

[@PMTCards]

@@Caelc15I think the point the entire segment was, if they messed up with the particular flag situation they should apologize.. but their apology seemed to wrap around and justify the entire game, where they have a black protagonist (which btw, there is a Japanese protagonist as well).. if the main character was “white”.. like the rest of the characters.. would there need to be this level of apology/backlash? Sure there might be some “last samurai” backlash.. but 1000% there wouldn’t be as bad as it is now. We also have multiple games (and really good ones) set in Japanese locations, with Japanese characters and protagonists

[@julio1148]

There is actually a meme song Japan made about the whole controversy that went viral over there

[@Deloreon]

I looked it up to save others some time. SIGH. The song is speaking from Ubisoft's perspective in a sarcastic way, repeatedly asking "What do we do, Yasuke?" and complaining about the choice to use him in the game but never mentioning anyone cool or interesting from Japanese history to replace him. Naw "make him gay and do it with Nobunaga" was what they said. WTF? I love Japan and so many things from Japanese culture so I'm REALLY disappointed that this song has any popularity at all. It's really hard to present the argument of "historical accuracy" without appearing bigoted when these games have never been "accurate"

[@julio1148]

@@Deloreon i agree with you, and things get unhinged once people are upset and make memes like these. Earlier on though, what sparked their rage was two things: - A piece of marketing from ubisoft targeted for the japanese community (it was like japanese trailer or overview, it was back in the gamefest walkthrough) BUT chinese subtitles: all of them called them out as racist for not knowing the difference (fair) - Another piece of marketing (may have been the sameone) that explicitly said it was accurate history and that you could learn from Japanese history by playing. This was truly the bigger source of hate. I found a couple Japanese native, english speaking content creators sumarizing the whole thing, and their conclusion was “if they said it was fantasy, it would’ve been fine, but as is, it’s disrespectful” There are Japanese government officials upset as well. Hence, the apology letter and deletion of videos claiming it was historically accurate

[@pokenationnat]

Ubisoft's apology does not address what the Japanese people were really angry about. They definitely claimed this had historical accuracy after consulting 'experts'. Not surprised Ubisoft would try to gaslight people though.

[@dchassan]

They said many times that it was a work of fiction...Yall racist devils just don't want a black man in a video game...JUST BE REAL..AND YOUR KIND SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM HIP-HOP AND OTHER GENRES OF MUSIC THAT BLACK PEOPLE CREATED

[@iXiClub]

Mike and Blessing dapping each other just feels right. New bond forming? ANDY WHO?!

[@AdelaideBen1]

Greg - the Japanese aren't complaining about the flag (as the main thing) - the whole conversation seemed to be saying "what's all the fuss about, Japan". The concern in Japan is definitely across a lot of different things. It's as much about that Ubisoft is just ripping stuff from everywhere without permission - and the fact that they seem been very selective about what type of experts (and what types of perspectives) they were using in the game as a depiction of Japanese history. So I think that the question about AC Shadows is complicated . As someone who has lived in Japan many years, and married to a Japanese (but admits that I don't speak for all Japanese), it seems from my reading, the main issues that Japanese have is flagrant ripping off and mis-representing things in a clumsy and disrespectful way. There is also a lot of concern that Ubisoft originally played up the historical accuracy, and the Japanese saw that it was giving a false view of their history. In my experience, many Japanese are very proud of their culture and sensitive to it's portrayal. There's also a whiff of racism (and a very western paternalism) about saying that western players need a non-Japanese character to understand Japan... when they didn't feel the same for previous cultures (edit: depicted in previous games). There are also a LOT of Japanese people upset about the sort of "experts" that companies like Ubi have used that either don't seem to be advising, or have their own agenda (Thomas Lockley is particularly disregarded by a lot of Japanese). From my personal perspective - I have to say however, the constant characterization of people as being right-wing-anti-woke-nut-jobs is kinda disrespectful to a lot of people. There are some Japanese that complain about anything that is not respectful of Japan (and some are racists) - at the same time, there's a lot of Japanese that couldn't care less; and basically just assume that Western companies will totally caricature Japanese culture anyway. There's many that just don't like the way Ubisoft seems to be looking down at the Japanese people. Everyone doesn't fit into this left or right narrative. That includes white males - who seem all tarred with the racist brush. And the suggestion that it's either white racists (or as has been said, white racists pretending to be Japanese) is just gaslighting. Edit - and yes, I do think a lot of people are saying things because they DO have an agenda - but you seem to be generalising everyone by those people... kinda stereo-typing in a way that is somewhat .... non-inclusive. Also - I like and respect Blessing - but when he said that diversity is good as long as it's not shoe-horned into something.... how is having a main protagonist of a 16th century Japanese ninja/samurai story being from Africa not shoe-horned? It's not about whether Yasuke's black - it's about the cringe, and ultimately they couldn't give a crap about anything but the $$$. For me personally - I get that AC is fictionalized (and didn't think Egypt or Greece were meant to be 'accurate' either)... but I don't like the current direction of Shadows because I think the fun of AC games is meeting historical figures, not being one; that and I play/watch Japanese stories for the Japanese stories... about Japanese. In the end - we should wait till the game comes out, but let's not all start talking about things we don't know about. Including you guys a KF.

[@dchassan]

That means Japanese people need to stop ripping off Black people culture...HIP-HOP AND OTHER GENRES OF MUSIC THAT BLACK PEOPLE CREATED...STOP DRESSING LIKE US AND USING OUR SLANG..NOBODY WAS COMPLAINING ABOUT NIOH MAIN CHARACTER BEING WHITE..

[@wyrmslayer1991]

They didn’t say people “needed” an outside perspective of Japan. They presented it merely as their angle on the story, which is a perfectly valid storytelling tool. Especially in a situation where the VAST MAJORITY of stories told in Japan are already from a male Japanese perspective. It’s a natural inclination to try to approach storytelling with fresh perspectives and ideas, and seeing Japan from an outsider’s perspective in a story is interesting and rare. To be honest, based on the reaction from Japan, you can kinda see why. It seems that, from the Japanese perspective, ALL stories based in Japan MUST be depicted SOLELY from the Japanese perspective. That feels just a little xenophobic.

[@dchassan]

@@wyrmslayer1991 Nobody had a problem with Nioh

[@AdelaideBen1]

@@wyrmslayer1991 and this is where the white-splaining comes in.... (meaning the western idea that other cultures need to be "corrected" in their incorrect views). Speaking as someone with a lot of experience with Japan, I can say without exaggeration, western media has a bad track record of capturing Japanese life or history. Once again - it sounds very patronizing telling people that they need to see less of their own stories - in a game about their own country. Now AC Shadows isn't made for Japan - so it's mostly for western audiences - but that doesn't mean that Japanese should have westerners telling them how they should feel.

[@AdelaideBen1]

@@dchassan because that was made by Japanese... I don't think you can call them racist or xenophobic if a Japanese company makes a game based on foreign samurai. And Nioh was it's own thing... it wasn't part of a series that specialised in visiting other countries/cultures through history (from the local perspective). At the end of the day - there's nothing stopping anyone from playing and enjoying whatever games they like - and I do think petitions to stop the game from releasing are childish as well. If you enjoy the game, that's great. If someone doesn't want to buy the game - good for them too. Just don't call everyone racist - and don't patronise an entire country by stereotyping them - if they don't like the choices made.

[@sportydude9337]

Next AC based in Sudan or Liberia better have an oriental Asian as the male protagonist.

[@elcapitan2293]

No linking the apology to the author of the book on Yasuke possibly lying about things and his connection to ubisoft?

[@Billeh32]

A little cameo from Slime on the top left during Blessing's Tekken vid in the beginning!

[@metronicmagician1816]

The craziest thing to me about all the AC stuff is if we’re really getting mad about historical inaccuracies then Valhalla is way way worse where the entire setting is inaccurate to a large degree (basically the type of Nordic culture being shown was not the culture of that time nor of any singular time). Of course these people have zero problem with that for some very obvious reasons.

[@JALAW-vd8oe]

Ubisoft's fuck up is that outside of the context of the game they made the claim that it's a histircal fact that Yasuke is a Samurai, and now they cleared that up since most evidence says he wasn't. There have a lot of people taking the "historical" part of AC to seriuously, but also a lot of peeople claiming that Yasuke was 100% a samuai and if you disagree you're racist.

[@metronicmagician1816]

@@JALAW-vd8oeare you a bot?

[@JALAW-vd8oe]

@@metronicmagician1816 Nah, was just browsing comments and saw 5 people making the same mistake, so I just quickly copy and pasted my first response.

[@metronicmagician1816]

@@JALAW-vd8oe fair enough. Can’t be too certain these days. Still I’m not talking about the actual inaccuracies. I’m talking about the fact that Valhalla had serious historical inaccuracies, and people didn’t care as much as they are now with this game. If they were actually caring about the historical accuracy of AC this would have popped up before.

[@JALAW-vd8oe]

@@metronicmagician1816 ​ @metronicmagician1816 I agree that the backlash is fueled by the fact people are just straight racist. but I think it's definietly only went this far because during the marketing they put more emphasis than usual on a specific element being historically accurate that people could point to as false giving them something specific to latch onto.. Also the game brought attention to the fact that a lot of other official sources were also making the same claim as Ubisoft whichn allowed the drama to continue not only through the game.

[@maximnewman2483]

My take on the situation with AC Shadows is more the fact that I believe Ubisoft should have only included Naoe as the MC. Being a ninja that would make more sense than a samurai who can’t climb walls or do any stealth. Plus she would have been the first female only character in assassin’s creed. That would have been a big moment.

[@TheLuddster]

Hey, Greg. Just FYI. I'm a garbage man and I know about the X-Cloud stuff. Also I have never been to brunch with a rabbi and an orthopedic surgeon 😂

[@RuthlessMetalYT]

All criticism isn't racism. You must be able to criticize the game even if the characters is black or not. I thought Kinda Funny were more of an open place for all gamers no matter of who they vote for but maybe I was wrong. Support DEI or get the heck out of here seems to be the message.

[@kelb0y9o20]

That is there message... and it's no longer even being about accepting to them it's full on you have to view things our way or we do not like you and want you out.. The "tolerant" are the most intolerant people of all. They do not forgive, they cancel. It's like they want to fail... I bet you if they switched to being conservative gaming podcast there numbers would skyrocket over a month but they can't do it cuz who ever funds kinda funny will stop supporting them and cancel them and Greg and Tim have dug themselves into the cali liberal culture that they themselves fear being canceled from. Not knowing the grass is greener on the other side

[@RuthlessMetalYT]

@@kelb0y9o20 who's message? Not Ubisoft or Kinda Funny at least. We all know why Ubisoft does this. It's because they want to race bait people for attention and it works every time.

[@RuthlessMetalYT]

@@kelb0y9o20 I bet the tolerant people would be so tolerable if Donald Trump starred in the next black panther movie, then we'll see how tolerant they are and how non racist they are when they have no problem when a white/orange man plays a black character. :D They are all hypocrites.

[@wyrmslayer1991]

@@kelb0y9o20What a hilarious crock of conspiracy psychobabble. Truly just incredibly stupid shit you wrote here. Bravo.

[@dekamaster100]

Yeah I used to be more progressive. But stuff like this shows despite their claim of inclusivity and diversity, progressive don’t care about Asians. Soured me to that

[@jeffcarrier9808]

I wish I caught this discussion live... I've been waiting 4 long years for Xbox to add a Cloud-Only tier to Game Pass... and the idea that cloud could be Free and you just buy the games, yup that was Stadia! Happy you guys actually mentioned it :)

[@jonimated]

"Inspired by historical events and characters, this work of fiction was designed, developed, and produced by a multicultural team of various beliefs, sexual orientations and gender identities." I mean it's in the pre-game disclaimers folks. "Inspired by...". "Work of fiction...".

[@Blue-Lunako]

Then why does Ubi say “a real-life historical african samurai, yasuke” in the publicity for this game? Don't you think it is a deviation from fiction to publicize a person, who may or may not be a samurai, as a real-life historical african samurai?

[@SteMcGovern]

@Blue-Lunako no, it's not a historical text, it's a fictional story

[@Blue-Lunako]

​@@SteMcGovern I am not talking about the story. Only the developer can know if the story of a game is fiction before it is released. I am talking about the advertising claims.

[@TheEregos]

Issue is they said the opposite before and many people are saying the opposite.

[@SteMcGovern]

@@Blue-Lunako okay, so what about it? Why should anyone care? If I play the game and enjoy fucking people up as Yasuke, I'm hardly going to be saying "damn, that one line they said in a promotional event really takes away from the experience". Plus, historical/real-figures are fictionalised in books, movies and games all the time. This really isn't the big deal some folk are making it out to be.

[@rashaundaily5438]

I literally bought the fire stick started playing xdefient on it and no lag played great and I only have ultimate so I can play it in my fire stick in my room it my Samsung tv in the living room

[@georgeflores4226]

3D Megaman Ratchet and Clank is Megaman Legends

[@cjsplitzon8833]

No it isn’t, thers not platforming in mega man legends

[@tetsuihayama]

In every AC game, the protagonist represents the region in which the game is located at. So of course there's a backlash when, the long awaited Japanese Centered Assassin Creed Game finally arrives, but the protagonist is a non-Japanese. It's completely disrespectful and shameful. The same tone can be said if there was an AC game taking place in Africa but the protagonist was a Russian. Obviously the two hosts are just as far gone as the people they're criticizing. But in their case, to the opposite end of corporate social propaganda. Labeling people who disagree with you as racist or bigots just shows how much you've been brainwashed by corporate social propaganda. Ubisoft sees how much dislikes and disapproval their game is having and is attempting to put out the fire.

[@AndrewB2189]

Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag?

[@BoxHeadMidus]

"In every AC game, the protagonist represents the region in which the game is located at. " Just a flat out lie.

[@dekamaster100]

To people who support this, I ask, what’s wrong with a Japanese male protagonist in a game set in historical Japan? And when has an Asian man been the lead of an Assassin’s Creed game? If not in the game finally set in Asia, then when?

[@dchassan]

​@dekamaster100 where was that same energy when NIOH WAS RELEASED.. WITH A WHITE MAIN CHARACTER

[@dchassan]

AC ORGIN GAME WAS SET IN EGYPT..THE MAIN CHARACTER WASN'T BLACK...EXPLAIN THAT RACIST AZZ CLOWN

[@Baytuh]

I'm excited for Assassin's Creed Shadows and tbh i was legit surprised by the Yasuke backlash (which i think is ridiculous). He's a cool character that has been in alot of Japanese media and fits perfectly for what story Ubisoft is going for with Assassin's Creed Shadows. Now for some odd reason people are crying historical accuracy in an Assassin's Creed game where Odin and Hades are characters. Its all ridiculous lol but racists are gonna racists.

[@IanJenn356094]

Ubisoft doesn't give a fuck about asian males in media. Lets finally have a game about fuedal japan but have the main character be a black guy and kill other hundreds of asian males to a rap song. And you wonder why asian males feel shafted. They already said in an interview that they didn't choose a japanese male character because they couldn't relate to it, so they picked a black guy. You're telling me that they could relate to a Syrian character, a half white half native american character, a british privateer, a black freed slave from trinidad, a greek, an egyptian, a norse person... ...but they can't relate to a japanese male? Yeah, they definately should have to apologize.

[@metronicmagician1816]

If these people actually cared about historical inaccuracies then Valhalla would make their blood boil over. Of course the Nordic Viking game with its white Nordic protagonist didn’t do that. Makes you really wonder what they’re actually mad about (obviously it’s racism).

[@JALAW-vd8oe]

Ubisoft's fuck up is that outside of the context of the game they made the claim that it's a histircal fact that Yasuke is a Samurai, and now they cleared that up since most evidence says he wasn't. There have a lot of people taking the "historical" part of AC to seriuously, but also a lot of peeople claiming that Yasuke was 100% a samuai and if you disagree you're racist.

[@genghismckhan.]

HD2 not punishing the grief kickers is really disappointing, as is the amount of time it took to do the bare minimum.

[@Minednam]

As an AC super fan and someone excited for Yasuke. I like that a statement was made to end this discussion. We don’t have enough info to know his exact role. It doesn’t matter. Let’s play the game as this dope ass samurai.

[@DeskieFam]

“F the racist. F the haters. F the bigots” - Blessing Jr. Well said, man.

[@jynxce]

Why mince words. It really is that simple. There really aren't "sides" here. Why would any accepting person open themselves up to trying understand someone's hatred?

[@albertforline9175]

No bodies asking to change the black samurai to a white one. Duh.....

[@dchassan]

No, they are asking for the game to be stopped.. because it's a black main character..racist Azz devil

[@JerryFlowersIII]

Assassin's Creed has never tried to be completely historically accurate. Their motto from the start is "History is our playground" The games, narratively, take inspiration from history but never bound to it. They do their research and take what works for the story they want to tell. One thing that they have gone in on details and accuracy are the environments, you can stroll threw any town and just observe people working with tools of the time. Different towns could have a clear source of export because nearby there's a marble quarry, or shells for dyes, or rivers. If you want accuracy they also have a Tour mode that tells you facts about the past as you walk in the areas it's discussing.

[@JerryFlowersIII]

When it comes to Ubisoft, people seem to truly have no chill. They've done some stuff worth criticizing but the games are truly great feats and accomplishments in many ways and I don't think get the respect they deserve because so many internet warriors have decided they hate Ubi and don't even play the games. I imagine criticism from people who never intended to play a game is an issue for devs.

[@JerryFlowersIII]

I think Greg and Blessing are reporting on this perfectly.

[@IanJenn356094]

@@JerryFlowersIII Ubisoft doesn't give a fuck about asian males in media. Lets finally have a game about fuedal japan but have the main character be a black guy and kill other hundreds of asian males to a rap song. And you wonder why asian males feel shafted. They already said in an interview that they didn't choose a japanese male character because they couldn't relate to it, so they picked a black guy. You're telling me that they could relate to a Syrian character, a half white half native american character, a british privateer, a black freed slave from trinidad, a greek, an egyptian, a norse person... ...but they can't relate to a japanese male? Yeah, they definately should have to apologize.

[@JALAW-vd8oe]

Ubisoft's fuck up is that outside of the context of the game they made the claim that it's a histircal fact that Yasuke is a Samurai, and now they cleared that up since most evidence says he wasn't. There have a lot of people taking the "historical" part of AC to seriuously, but also a lot of peeople claiming that Yasuke was 100% a samuai and if you disagree you're racist.

[@BoxHeadMidus]

It really annoys me that so many people don't get the basic premise of Assassin's Creed. The Animus was created by Abstergo to get an accurate view of history since history is written by people and people are both biased and aren't omniscient and also could have agendas. Its spelled out so clearly.

[@Tee_youyou]

Peppermint: “RACE??!”

[@planzproductions2631]

New York City Tour guide here: Blessing did it right. #Joespizzaforever

[@max.o4543]

What I have understood from the japanese community is that they do not have a problem with Yasuke being a playable character they have a problem of him being promoted as a samuria when on paper he is not. This part of his reall life is still in debate to this day however with certain events in historical matters which would have made him a samuria he chose the latter so on paper he is more a ronan than a samuria. The japanese community also have a problem with certain things in the promoting material i.e. the trees and what the plants look like during seasonal changes in the promoting material. The flag is a problem but the biggest problem for the game so far for the japanes is that Yasuke is being called a Samuria that was the main adress in the statement and you guys basically skipped lmao.

[@stuartlittle281]

I think the game looks interesting, and I'll probably be getting it, but I will say the initial reveal gave me pause since after all the build up to getting a Japanese AC game, the native playable character has to share their narrative with someone from a different culture, when typically (though not always) the AC protags are of the setting. Viking, Egyptian, Ancient Greek etc. Not talked about enough as well is that it's also another example of Ubisoft not fully pulling the trigger on committing to a female lead character in a main AC game. They always have to share, or be an alternate option that doesn't get marketed as strongly. This is also what is happening in the conversation. It's all about Yasuke and the controversy, and his historical context, and Naoe's acknowledgment is largely "Oh, don't worry, you can play as a Japanese Shinobi too". I guess the question is: why did Ubisoft feel like they couldn't make an interesting enough story with only Japanese playable characters?

[@SteMcGovern]

I highly doubt Ubisoft went into development thinking "damn, it's just not possible to make an interesting story about a Japanese character!"

[@AKDot98]

Several assassin's creed games have characters who are not native to the setting or are outsiders in some way. As early as Revelations, the last Ezio game. Valhalla starts with your viking clan leaving for Anglo territory. Connor was not an American colonist. The white man from black flag obvious not a carribbean native. This is not a standard the series has applied in forever.

[@AndrewB2189]

They wanted to tell the story of an outsider coming to Japan. Shogun did the same thing and people loved it

[@TheEregos]

@@AndrewB2189 Shogun is not a franchise that has for 2 decades had no characters from East Asia.

[@TheEregos]

@@AKDot98 Except we have not seen a East Asian character do ANY of that and now only one is in their main game.

[@itsMARTIKAI]

Games are an artform. Art is subjective.

[@Lprieto33]

NBA Street is back should have been the thumbnail!!

[@iamchernyy]

Is that slime? 5:17

[@iCb0x]

We neeed to drop this “everything needs to be flashing colors like Fortnite and valorant”. What happened to the gritty looking games. New NBA street looks corny, but that’s what sells to the kids apparently

[@Bfr3shBrian]

Yes a lot of the backlash are from racists. But as an Asian man I was just hoping to finally play as an Asian man in an AC game. It’s not that big of a deal but it’s still kinda disappointing.

[@Super_NoHero]

So what’s wrong with the woman? 🤔 it’s gotta be a man or you’ll be that unsatisfied?

[@-eligos-8670]

I know how you feel, brother I’ve been waiting to play as a black man and assassin‘s Creed ever since the little black flag DLC so to get the opportunity and to see all the hate and vitreal is disheartening.

[@Bfr3shBrian]

@@Super_NoHero I usually choose male characters when given the choice, helps with immersion. Like I said ,not that big of a deal, probably gonna pick Yasuke if I end up getting this game. I’m just a bit jealous of all the people who felt represented in past AC games.

[@VirtuousContract]

Punk winning was amazing

[@Andy-uj5vi]

As a Japanese person and long time follower of Kinda Funny I had a sick feeling in my stomach watching a black protagonist killing Japanese people on the trailer (even knowing story wise it probably makes perfect sense) and I’m wondering legitimately if I’m racist after listening to Blessings take. I feel like I’m a reasonable open minded person, but would like honest feedback on this. To clarify, I’m completely ok with black and any other protagonists in video games, but I can’t lie about the reaction I had to this particular game.

[@dekamaster100]

Totally valid for you to feel that way. Don’t get gaslit. It is totally problematic that the game is a foreigner coming to historical Japan and just killing a bunch of Japanese men. Especially after the previous years of real world Asian hate and killings. It’s just that society is so used to seeing Asian people being killed for entertainment that they don’t care.

[@WebstarGaming]

I don’t wanna say your racist cause I don’t know you well enough but I would say you definitely have a problem that you need to work out at least you admitted it so now you can work towards reversing it

[@roundIine]

It's perfectly normal to be off-put by what Ubisoft has done, their execution was completely tone deaf. It doesnt matter if you're black, white, asian, middle eastern, it also doesnt matter what race the foreigner is, if someone makes a game with a foreigner walking through a homogenous setting while people bow to them in respect and reverence, then show that same character murdering them in the most brutal way possible it will be received poorly by people who identify with the native population. You can argue whether it was more or less justified but we saw this same reaction with all modern war fiction set in the middle east and specifically with resident evil 5, I would argue RE 5 was less tone deaf since you were explicitly fighting zombies. The issue with the gameplay segment on its own is there was no context, you haven't experienced the lead up to this moment in the game yet you're supposed to assume the Japanese guards are bad and Yasuke is good, the game glorifies violence against the Japanese yet through their actions alone yasuke seems like the villain, this moral confusion over how the game is framing and glorifying things vs what the viewer sees without context is jarring. To add fuel to the fire Ubisoft has been incredibly callous in their treatment of Japanese culture, full of mistakes and inaccuracies, fuck ups like using one piece swords to advertise their game (while touting history and cultural respect as key pillars) tells you they see japan and its culture as a cartoon and so some may come to the conclusion that the game doesnt even have a sensible context and Ubisoft just revels in violence against Japanese people. Had this game been explicit fantasy, had the promotional material clearly indicated that the Japanese guards were evil and distinct from the local population, had the game been made by people who were respectful of/from the culture you would not have felt anything, this is Ubisoft's fault.

[@kingjosh_]

You my friend actually have a brain unlike these liberal fools who live in an echo chamber and think everything is racist. Your reaction makes sense. Feudal Japan and they went with a black protagonist, are we serious? If you wanna make a game with a black protagonist, put him in a setting that makes sense not feudal Japan 😂.

[@_theduckofdeath_]

Some people were alarmed by RE5 when Chris Redfield killed a lot of black people. Much of this has to do with representation -- you didn't see many black people in videogames, historically. Certainly, there would not be a town full of lifelike black people. Suddenly, it seems more real than just a game. Maybe that is what you are experiencing. Japanese characters in a lifelike village setting are somewhat rare in games, also. Yasuke stands out, so it could make you more aware of the violence that we typically overlook.

[@gumgumleobazooka]

What do incels hate more? A black individual or a woman?

[@byte-bg4ob]

Black, but the women is very close the next thing they hate.

[@michaelseruntine3401]

Black people...women are usefull in society

[@imTofuDragon]

A trans person probably. Sucks that this game is getting hate for it and not for the usual ubisoft stuff like workplace troubles and harassment

[@Caelc15]

why do you hate asians? are you saying the Japanese should not be upset about this? Are you telling them how they should feel? Very racist

[@imTofuDragon]

​​@@Caelc15they dont hate asians. Not every single Asian is speaking out and hating this game bruh. Only those who are bigoted

[@perry6762]

Ngl the backlash from all this has made me feel like maybe as a black person I should only be following indies. The gaming space for AAA games is so toxic now that it genuinely upsets me

[@gilgamesh5796]

There is no one in your life that is actually giving this backlash,Twitter isn't real. Play whatever you think is fun. Stop worrying about the internet and live in the real world.

[@dawodakah7745]

​@@gilgamesh5796this right here should be posted everywhere!

[@JALAW-vd8oe]

Ubisoft's fuck up is that outside of the context of the game they made the claim that it's a histircal fact that Yasuke is a Samurai, and now they cleared that up since most evidence says he wasn't. There have a lot of people taking the "historical" part of AC to seriuously, but also a lot of peeople claiming that Yasuke was 100% a samuai and if you disagree you're racist.

[@TDancausE]

To be honest what I’ve seen is the Japanese believes it to be disrespectful to make a game based on their history whether it be fully fictional or otherwise, have an african protagonist rather than a Japanese one. This is a nation built on respect and hold it extremely reverently. I think it’s not purely racism from the Japanese people

[@TDancausE]

Isn’t calling everyone with that stance a bigot without hearing them out the same type of bigotry?

[@AndrewB2189]

This an asinine way of thinking. Do you think we should only tell stories about people in their home countries? This was the age of explorers. The Portuguese and English sailed half way around the world to get to Japan. The perspective of an outsider is interesting

[@TDancausE]

@@AndrewB2189 I mean personally I don’t care. I was just commenting on what I’ve seen a lot of Japanese influencers concerns were

[@TDancausE]

The African samurai has been a story for a long time and has influenced many works so I’ll play the game either way.

[@wyrmslayer1991]

So you’re saying that Japanese people feel that if you base a game in Japan, you are not allowed to tell your story from the perspective of any race other than specifically Japanese, and you’re saying that is NOT a racist attitude? Are you sure about that?

[@firehawkd]

The fact Ubisoft gave weight to those ridiculous "historical inaccuracy" claims is gross And, a Cloud-only tier would be very attractive to me. My kiddo is usually playing on her Android phone over Cloud.

[@travisziegler5011]

I'd pay for just cloud if it's cheaper. I only subscribe to ultimate for cloud gaming. I already own the games on gamepass that I would play, and I like to play them anywhere.

[@bojorquezjuan100]

We need a new Megaman Legends

[@knowledge3754]

Bless is right. The new NBA Street looks like Overwatch on a basketball court 🤢 🤢

[@pillionaire07]

The issue a lot of people take, not all of them bigots, with DEI is the perception that there are lower standards for minorities than there are for everyone else. You should be hired based solely on your qualifications and nothing more.

[@Deloreon]

Where does the perception come from? It is a console measure to generations of white people being chosen for employment over literally anyone else WITH MATCHING QUALIFICATIONS. To assume it is a over-correction can be argued. The perception thing sounds like it came from the person more so than the subject.

[@wyrmslayer1991]

It’s actually to combat decades of lower standards for white people than there are for everyone else.

[@124mani]

We need a MEGAMAN METROIDVANIA!!!!

[@holddamayo7474]

Mike is fn awesome

[@Caelc15]

No, it was not mostly racism because no one cared about the person being black in cry freedom, or being dark skinned in origin, but ya, now, no one wants to play a black character? come on.

[@AKDot98]

Let's not pretend that overt racism hasn't gotten way worse in the 10+ years since those games

[@Caelc15]

@@AKDot98 and lets not pretend that these people are completely ignoring what the Japanese are angry about and it has nothing to do with the race of the main character but then that goes against their agenda about making everything about race. and yes, overt racism has gotten worse, and this proves it because of all the people in the west that seem to be completely ok with being racist towards Asians.

[@AKDot98]

@Caelc15 you're making shit up at this point, esp about normalized anti-asian racism. It's a proven fact that the Japanese media releases for shadows had a ton of non-japanese people posting with translate to make remarks about yasuke's inclusion, and Ubisoft's starement spends more time on that than on the other historical inaccuracies like flags and architecture. The conversation the KF guys were having is questioning whether the yasuke controversy is truly coming from Japanese people or is from bigots posing to inflate the issue, and they fully agreed that Ubisoft should apologize and do better on the other issues. No reason to keep talking about that part and better to discuss the more local issue at hand and how it may be playing into Ubisoft's response.

[@Caelc15]

@@AKDot98 and you are ignoring all the Japanese that posted about this in Japanese, Just stop. People like you are ignoring the fact that if you bothered to look, they dont care about the colour of the character, in fact, many of them said to just change the name to a fictional name and leave the character as is, but white western people need to tell other cultures how they should feel and then completely disregard their concerns and they just cant see how racists they are being. I suggest you do the research

[@noodles9345]

Totally missed the point with the AC stuff. DEI/ESG talk aside, people want to play as a character that is more sensibly aligned with the time period and location. No one is asking for specifically white characters. The only people begging and whining for characters to "represent them" is people like you all. On the left. No one was mad about playing as Bayek in AC Origins. Or the Carribean dude in AC Rogue (i think, i forgot which one) Because it made sense. Just like no one is mad about playing as Jin in Ghost of Tsushima. CJ or Franklin in GTA. Franklin is LOVED by the community. Tens of millions, more than people care about Michael. Sheva from RE5, Lee in The Walking Dead. Chloe in Lost Legacy, Cole in Gears of War. Miles Morales. Eve in Stellar Blade. Alyx Vance in Half Life 2. Coach in Left 4 Dead 2. Lara Croft (before her more recent adjustment, she was not a white adjacent character at her inception or the beginning until funny wokes took over and made her more white) People have no problem with the above stated non white characters. They are some of the most iconic in gaming history. What we dont like is shoehorned diversity for activism's sake.

[@wyrmslayer1991]

Ahh the “I have black friends” argument from a right-wing racist. Yeah we get it, you’re okay with poc in games as long as you’re seeing them in places you would expect. The moment you see a black character in a place you personally don’t expect them is when you racists lose your minds. You have a “go back where you came from” mentality about this that is prevalent among “people like you.” The right.

[@ArielCleirigh]

Funny shit Ubisoft apologizing after whatching Shohei Kondo video, I send them by twitter.

[@shawnspeigner2835]

I'm not sure Helldivers 2 has kept a solid player base. When I played it felt like the most repetitive game. I got bored after a few days of play

[@Tee_youyou]

Omg same! I really don’t understand the hype at all.

[@spacemanleezy93]

we miss u bless lol

[@msnintendique64]

The thing that this whole conversation leaves out that racism is a huge problem in Japan. So even if Japanese players have a problem it has to be looked at thru the lens of a country that is ethnically homogenous and that has lead to not great race/ethnic relations. You only need to look at who is the loudest complaints are coming from. It's Japanese conservative pundits who A) lied about the source B) then went on to say that it would be seen as another "Korean Comfort Women" type issue. Ubisoft just apologized to Comfort Women Deniers. I cannot express how fucked up that is.

[@dekamaster100]

Pretty racist to call a country of people racist. And because of that Japanese men don’t deserve representation and to have their culture and history reappropriated?

[@TheEregos]

Unfortunately Helldivers 2 dropped off a cliff after the forced PSN debacle and has not recovered on there, i think Concord forces it from the get go which makes it not playable for a large amount of the Steam audience with others just disliking that. Concords biggest issue is Valve are about to shadow drop their Hero shooter that even in closed beta has more people playing it on Steam than Concord does.

[@ViewtifulChode]

MegaMan rogue like???? 54:45

[@RuthlessMetalYT]

The sensible way to handle this is not to curate the games for left leaning people and tell everyone that disagrees to f off. If you say that the game is a historical work it should try to be a historical work. They put a black samurai in the game because they knew it would put more attention to the game, they are race baiting and unfortunately Kinda Funny seems to fall for this stupidity.

[@JALAW-vd8oe]

Assassins creed has alwayr been fiction inspired by reality and they state it as such

[@wyrmslayer1991]

The people who are looking to assassin’s creed for historical accuracy are the ones falling for stupidity here

[@RuthlessMetalYT]

@@wyrmslayer1991 No, lots of people do. We cant only have games about pink dragons flying around, lots of games should and needs to be based somewhat in reality.

[@RuthlessMetalYT]

@@JALAW-vd8oe But it has always been very based in history.

[@wyrmslayer1991]

@@RuthlessMetalYT It’s a little telling that you consider a black man in feudal Japan and pink dragons to be equivalent displays of disregard for historical accuracy

[@jlindsa]

It's wild how sensitive we all have become with our entertainment media (from sports & video games to tv & film). Is Ubisoft over reacting or are the Japanese really fuming about this?

[@kelb0y9o20]

Liberalism right?

[@marcoa7263]

Everyone needs to relax. If this makes you upset, get some perspective for the love of God

[@relaxedinmymind]

Alot of Japanese are upset & concerned the game is culuturally appropriating. Theres alot of examples in the trailers and gameplay reaveals which indicate that Ubi isn't handling this with the respect that the devs of Ghosts did. Yes some bigots and racists would see an opportunity to pile on but Japanese people have a right to have their culture respected particularly when you use it to make profit. I think infact that its you guys who took a pretty narrow view on this and choose to think all criticism is related to a black protagonist.

[@RuthlessMetalYT]

Nipoli pizza. damn

[@mikesmith3397]

The problem for the guys at KF is they're normal, progressive people but Gamers - who are mostly retrograde incels - pay their bills. Tough needle to thread.

[@nuno3887]

I cant wait to play as Yasuke

[@jonalexander9312]

Really appreciate Greg's effort to incorporate nb's into his intros

[@LaidBackGaming-h6i]

Blessing back! Thank fuck

[@aeolussvichi7680]

So they apologize but don’t do anything to show what they’ll do to make amends?

[@coleze3747]

I 100% agree with Blessing on AC Shadows. Unfortunately, internet trolls and bigots have poisoned the well for so many games. Their disingenuous criticism of games brings down cultural criticism of games as a whole.

[@J2Kmn]

"If there's one thing that the far right can do really well, it is recontextualize a thing that is a very normal thing and turn it into this "Oh, you gotta be scared. You gotta be scared of history. You gotta be scared of learning what happened in our past. You gotta be scared of DEI." Blessing nails it on the fucking head. I think the statement was made to try to douse some of the vitriol by certain people but will ultimately just make the whole conversation way more annoying. AC has always been historical fiction taking many liberties with historical figures and settings and there IS a true Japanese character in the game (who gets overlooked because she's a woman, despite the fact she's actually in front of Yasuke on the boxart). No one cared about Yasuke existing or his status as a samurai in any other media or game before this. Let's be honest here, the outrage against the protag of Shadows is only a thing because there are certain people who "talk about games" that know that there is a small but obnoxiously vocal subsect of gamers that can be easily swayed, outraged, and turned into supporters by this anti-DEI conspiracy bullshit. These guys are low-hanging fruit for these snake oils salesmen. It's fucking gross and I'm tired of it.

[@kelb0y9o20]

It's so crazy how one side thinks the other side is doing something there there side is the master of doing lol

[@BilalDraz]

Love what Blessing says about not giving any credence to bigotry. I unfortunately think the reason that Ubisoft addressed other “concerns” in the apology is because that segment of the player base controls a large enough chunk of potential purchases that they don’t want to piss them off. Sad

[@jamaalellison3076]

They could've done a Japanese Assassins creed game years ago but they didn't and when they finally get around to make one this is the road they decided to take?! Of freaking course it was going to be controversial. There's plenty of actual Japanese historical figures to focus on and Japanese historical periods the game could've taken place in. That's my personal issues with the game.

[@shubhankar2508]

You can play as a Japanese protagonist. But you won't. We all know why.

[@happinintendo]

The historical figures will probably be main NPCs like they always are. You never play as a real person lol

[@jamaalellison3076]

@@happinintendo but you play a character hailing from that Countries origin.....Until now.

[@samikhalifa6021]

Lol where was that outrage for Tom Cruise playing “The Last Samurai?” 😂

[@AdelaideBen1]

Actually - all over the internet.

[@henrysmith5343]

TOM CRUISE WAS NOT THE LAST SAMURAI WATCH THE MOVIE.

[@samikhalifa6021]

@@henrysmith5343 i aint watching that bullsht

[@michaelseruntine3401]

I don't want a white samurai just a japenese one..thanks sweet baby inc..

[@DeadmansCreed]

Then go play Ghost of Tsushima, Rise of the Ronin, or Sekiro. Many other games and movies in this setting, it’s nothing new. Stop whining and crying.

[@manyamaggot]

That's racist

[@jmxarcx117]

@@DeadmansCreed LOL THANK YOU FOR THIS COMMENT.

[@jynxce]

@@DeadmansCreed SBI is truly living rent-free in their heads.

[@holddamayo7474]

Most of the world isn’t PC like the west 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@superbit415]

I dont understand why people can't get what the problem is with this Assassin's creed versus all the other ones. If in the middle of the game they made Nobunaga transform into a 10 feet tall Kami and go on a rampage, its fine, I don't think anyone will have a problem with it. What the problem is that they are using the white savior trop in this. Just because they deiced to use a black guy instead of white doesn't make it any less insulting.

[@perry6762]

This is insane. We don’t even know what the story will be about and there’s no such thing as a black savior trope

[@shubhankar2508]

They're not using a black savior trope, because a) that's not a thing, you maniac b) yasuke was a real, actual samurai who's been in multiple other games

[@gilgamesh5796]

@@shubhankar2508 why are both of you pretending he said "black savior trope" when he clearly did not say that?

[@shubhankar2508]

@@gilgamesh5796 What they said: "What the problem is that they are using the white savior trop in this. Just because they deiced to use a black guy instead of white doesn't make it any less insulting." go ahead and pretend that means something else

[@gilgamesh5796]

@@shubhankar2508 that very clearly means something else, wtf are you talking about? There is obviously not a **Black Savior Trope** , thats a fact that can be proven. But the statement "the white savior trope is just as harmful even if you replace White with anything else non-Japanese" is an **opinion** that means something completely different. You can discuss that opinion without pretending he said something else.

[@MoonlitDhampir]

Ahhh I missed Blessing so much!! Also, Greg I just wanna say thank you so much for adding NBs to your introductions. It means so much. 🩵🤍🩷

[@l33totaku01]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/o4K6k2WOf5VjsJIsi=suD12IY2DgDvMrxo And this is the reason. Why japanese are upset about yasuke being a protagonist in assassins creed shadows. Sorry i spammed this comment section with videos bt i know japanese people personally (im not japanese) who are very upset by this game, so i felt compelled to present the issue bt in a way that doesnt pressent my personal views bc it doesnt affect me directly, bt it does affect people i know. Not trying to say opinions on the game 1 way or another. Simply inform people of the japanese perspective.

[@BoxHeadMidus]

Just a quick look through this guys videos is enough to let me know they're not a serious person. Obvious grift. Be smarter than this.